


Immunity

by notanannoyingfangirl, snowbunnylester (xrosepetalsx)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Character Death, M/M, Plague, Suicidal Thoughts, Virus, alternative universe - disease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-03-26 05:43:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 21,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3839233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notanannoyingfangirl/pseuds/notanannoyingfangirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xrosepetalsx/pseuds/snowbunnylester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s late 2015, and the world has succumbed to a virus that’s managed to wipe out the majority of the worlds population. Few have survived, and those who have, are either immune, or in danger of contracting the disease at any moment. When a vaccine is created, hope is restored, and Dan Howell desperately tries to get his sick friend Chris Kendall to help before it’s too late. Phil Lester, who wants nothing more than to be left alone, is dragged along for the ride, forced to journey back to Manchester despite the demons that plague his mind. However, something nefarious is going on in Manchester. Will they be able to stop it in time?</p><p>Nominated for both: <a href="https://polldaddy.com/poll/8278109/">Edge of the Seat Award</a> & <a href="https://polldaddy.com/poll/8275081/">Best Collab</a> <a href="http://phanficawards.tumblr.com/post/113541935645/phanfic-awards-2015-nominations">phanficawards 2015</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Look whose back? You guessed it, it’s me and notanannoyingfangirl with another chapter fic for you! We’re equally as excited for this fic as we were for [Notifications](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3563903/chapters/7850750), and we hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did writing it. 
> 
> The chapters for this fic are going to be on the shorter side for each update, as the fic composition lent itself to this kind of set up. However, just as last time, the whole thing is already complete, and posting will be regular.
> 
> The posting schedule will be the same as last time: Tuesdays, Thursday, and Saturdays.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Thanks to betas [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com)!

Chris was coughing. Dan knew that was the first sign. He knew, but he didn't say anything. He didn't have to - his friend knew it as well as he did. They were just both ignoring it. The ignorance wouldn't, couldn't, last much longer.

Dan wasn't entirely sure where they were either. Somewhere up North, of that he was certain. God, how he missed the busy London streets. Nowhere was very busy these days.

Honestly, Dan felt like he was inside one of those films he used to watch. Except instead of the villains being zombies hungry for his brains, his villains were things like starvation, fatigue, and dehydration.

A part of him thought that zombies would have been easier.

So, Chris was coughing, and he was trying to ignore it, and they didn’t know where they were. That was what his life had become. Dan had had to resort to stealing from the dead to keep himself alive.

The house he and Chris were holed up in didn’t belong to either of them, but it wasn’t as if anyone was going to arrest them for it.

That's what the human race (or at least the people of England, Dan wasn’t entirely sure what was going on with the rest of the world) had been reduced to.

Stealing, looting, murdering, disease-sickened scumbags.

But he was alive, which was a lot more than could be said for most people.

He was alive.

\--

It all happened very quickly. Except, not.

One moment, everyone was fine, and the next, half the world’s population had fallen to an unknown plague.

Phil had watched it happened.

Within a month, the world had deteriorated. It was clear that the virus hadn’t appeared suddenly, but it was also clear that it was too late to stop it. The only good news anyone had to share by the end of that first month was the fact that the sickness wouldn’t be able to destroy humanity completely.

Some people were immune to it, or their bodies quickly created an immunity. Some people fell sick, but came out of it. Others were not so lucky.

Phil had family in Florida, that’s how he knew all of this. They’d kept in contact for all of a week, until things got really bad, and all communication was lost.

During that week, however, they were able to learn, and share, with those in charge, that it wasn’t just London. It wasn’t just England, or Europe.

The plague was everywhere. There was no getting help.

All that was left was to bury the dead, and for the survivors to move on.

In Phil’s opinion, the worst part was being a survivor. He’d had to watch his entire family succumb to something no one knew anything about, while he himself never once got sick.

And believe him, he’d _tried_. He hadn’t wanted to live in a world where every single person he’d ever loved was dead, but he couldn’t kill himself. No. He wasn’t strong enough for that.

So, when he failed to contract the illness, he moved on. He took care of his parents and his older brother, until they’d all taken their last breaths, and then he’d gathered up enough supplies to last him a few weeks, and wandered away from Manchester. Far away.

Down south.

He had a radio transmitter with him that he kept on at all times, just in case there was any news, but it never went off.

Eventually, Phil found a makeshift hospital where he volunteered his time. In turn, they offered him supplies and a place to sleep.

He was twenty-three, then, and doing his damndest not to get attached to each new soul he was forced to take care of - an impossible dream. Phil felt his heart break a little bit more with each passing death.

\--

"Chris!" Dan called as he pushed open the front door to their safe house. He'd been out at the Tesco's down the street (not that it hadn't already been picked clean), trying to find something, anything, he could use. Food, water bottles, a weapon, maybe even some medicine to help with Chris' cough.

He'd had little luck. The store had been in shambles. Whoever lived in this town originally had picked it clean. Still, he had found a small transmitter radio.

It was unlikely that anyone would be broadcasting, but a slim chance was better than none.

"In here," Chris replied from the kitchen, his voice raspy. "Did you find anything?"

Dan shrugged as he entered the kitchen, studying his friend. If it was possible Chris looked even worse than he had that morning. His face was pale and gaunt, eyes bloodshot. "This," Dan said, holding up the radio.

For half a second Chris' eyes shimmered with their old light. "Do you think it still works?"

"Let's find out," Dan said, cranking the handle and changing the stations.

Suddenly the static was broken by a woman's voice.

"-asks that any survivors make their way to the city of Manchester to receive the vaccine. If you are listening to this broadcast, Doctor Liguori asks that any survivors make their way to the city of Manchester to receive the vaccine."

Dan looked up, meeting his friend's hopeful smile with one of his own.

They had a goal now. They had to make it to Manchester. They didn't have another choice.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, here’s chapter two of insanityplaysfics and I’s new fic. I’m happy you guys seem to be liking it already! Thank you to mostlikelyprocrastinating and katthequeen520 for being super awesome beta’s. Next chapter will be up Saturday, you know the drill

“...to the city of Manche...vaccine...Doctor Liguori asks that...survivors...to the city of Manchester…” Phil groaned as he was abruptly awoken by the sounds of his broken radio attempting to broadcast him a message. He screwed his eyes shut against harsh daylight, and rolled to his side, aggressively searching for the small, hand-held device.

The minute his fingers came into contact with it, he dragged it towards him and begin to fiddle with the transmitter. The message continued to crackle out half finished words, and Phil finally sat up, smacking the stupid thing.

“Work, damn it!” he growled, rubbing at his eyes in frustration.

“...Doctor Liguori asks that any survivors make their way to the city of Manchester to receive the Vaccine…” the radio broadcasted, the message getting abruptly cut off by the loud sounds of radio frequency.

On the upside, at least Phil had gotten the gist of it. On the downside, it appeared he’d left the wrong city months ago.

He sighed, and pressed a hand through his long, disheveled hair.

He didn’t want to go back to Manchester. He didn’t want the vaccine.

He just wanted this nightmare to be over.

\--

“Morning, Ellis,” Phil grumbled as he made his way into the dark tent they called the mess hall. The older woman rationing food turned to smile up at him.

“Morning, Phil. How are you?” she asked.

“Same as always,” Phil replied, and then sat down on a chair near her. “Got a message over the radio, today,” he began. “Shall I get the others?”

Ellis looked up at that, eyes alight with hope.

“Yes, yes! Go on, what are you waiting for?” she exclaimed, rushing to stand up and clean her hands. “We can all meet in the elders tent!” she enthused, and Phil smiled at her.

“Alright then,” he replied, and stood up.

Soon enough, the only other five immune people in the camp were settled down in a circle around Phil, waiting for his news.

“A doctor called Liguori in Manchester has created a vaccine. They’re requesting all remaining survivors make their way there now.” An excited cheer went up at this news, and the five survivors began to plan, asking questions like how they were going to get those who were sick all the way to Manchester. After a few minutes of this, Phil raised his hand to calm them down and began to talk again.

“I didn’t catch the full message, but I expect they have supplies, as well. Still, I think that you should carry all that you can. I’ll stay here and take care of the ill.”

The excited mumbling immediately ceased. “What do you mean, Phil? Aren’t you coming with us?” a small, red-headed woman asked, her brows furrowed.

Phil shook his head. “My place is here. I don’t want the vaccine,” he explained as calmly as he could, and then, without waiting for another word to be said, he left the tent swiftly.

\--

It was slow going, Chris was getting weaker every day. Most of the time Dan had to support him as they walked along the side of the roadway. He would've stolen a car if there were any around, but wherever they were was void of any signs of civilization except for empty houses. It was like everyone packed up and left. Maybe they all had.

It was eerie.

Dan considered it a miracle that he, himself, hadn't fallen sick. God knows he'd been exposed enough.

His parents, his little brother, now Chris.

What was he going to do without his best friend? No, he couldn't afford to think like that.

"Let's take a break," Dan offered, hating how pale Chris was looking. "Okay?"

"No, I can..... I can keep going," Chris protested, obviously gasping for breath.

"I know you can," Dan reassured him, "but we both need to conserve our energy, and it's almost time for lunch anyway."

Chris nodded, letting Dan shepherd him off the road and into the shade.

"We're gonna get there, right?" Chris asked, looking at Dan.

"Yeah," Dan said, though he wasn't so sure that he believed himself.

\--

"Dan," Chris said, pushing his arm. "What's that?"

Dan studied the ramshackle town. Actually it was mostly ruins. Still, there seemed to be some kind of light coming from it.

"I don't know. People maybe," Dan replied, squinting.

"Bad people?" Chris asked.

"Have you met any good people recently?" Dan asked, but one look at Chris' face dripping with sweat and he knew he didn't really have another choice. "Let's go check it out?"

"Are you sure?" Chris asked.

"Yeah. I'll protect you, don't worry."

\--

The light, it turned out, was a fire. A fire surrounded by tents. Though the place seemed void of life, the stench of illness clung to it like a cloud.

"Maybe we should get out of here," Dan said, glancing around uneasily.

"There's no one here, Dan," Chris said, reaching over and pushing back one of the tents flaps open. "Okay...." he said slowly, "I retract my previous statement. "

"What's going on, Chris?" Dan asked, pushing around his friend to see the inside of the tent.

A handful of people lay before him, on various sleeping bags and blankets. All of them had wet cloths on their forehead, and all of them looked extremely ill. Actually, at first glance, Dan thought they were all dead.

"What is this place?" he asked aloud, sharing a concerned glance with Chris.

"Who the hell are you?" an unfamiliar voice asked from behind them, making Dan whirl around.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update Tuesday and special thanks as always to mostlikelyprocrastinating and katthequeen520 for being awesome betas!!!

The other’s had left yesterday, gazes solemn as they clasped Phil on the back and pulled him in for a quick hug. They hadn’t wanted to leave him or the sick behind, but they’d all eventually agreed that it was for the best.

If anyone was going to get better, they would have by now. Maybe it was for the best if someone stayed behind to care for them in their last days.

Besides, everyone knew Phil’s story. They could all understand why Phil wouldn’t want to go back, and so, they left him with kind smiles and enough rations to get him through a week on his own.

They figured no one would survive past then either way, and Phil agreed.

In the meantime, Phil was left to his own thoughts and a quiet camp for the first time in months. He wasn’t even sure how long he’d been here with the others, in the ruins of a city whose name was long forgotten, but it hardly mattered. Time meant nothing to a man who just wanted to die.

It was sometime around mid-day when Phil got up to return to the sick bay, his mind on other matters as he grabbed a bucket of cool water. He still had to figure out where he was going to go once his charges were dead, and where he would bury them, after all.

He was so deep in thought, that he very nearly didn’t notice the two unfamiliar boys poking their heads into the highly quarantined area.

“Who the hell are you?” he growled, dropping his bucket and taking a menacing step in their direction.

The two boys immediately whipped around, one’s face fresh and clean, while the other’s was flushed a deep red. Phil knew immediately that he was infected.

He sighed deeply, and ran a hand through his hair as he rolled his eyes and neck out of frustration.

“We-we’re so sorry to bother you, sir! We were just on our way to Manchester, and my friend here...well, he’s not doing very well,” the healthy boy spoke up, lips trembling in fear as he placed himself in front of his sick friend.

“I can see that,” Phil mumbled, picking the bucket of water back up and shoving past the two brown haired boys to get into the tent. “I suggest you move along, then. You don’t want your friend to get any worse than he already is, and Manchester is still at least a month away. This is a sick bay, if you hadn’t already noticed,” he explained succinctly, stopping at the first ‘bed’ and wringing out the warm cloth pressed to Maggie’s head.

Her eyes were jammed shut, and she was hardly breathing already. Phil knew it was only a matter of hours, now, and set to work making them the nicest he could.

He turned his head slightly when he heard a small scuffling sound, and smirked sadly to himself as he watched the two boys from before scuttling away.

For their sake, he hoped they’d make it to Manchester on time.

\--

By the time Phil had finished replacing everyone’s cool rags, it was already dark, and Maggie was taking her last few breaths.

“Shh, shh,” he whispered softly, clutching her hand in his. Her eyes had fluttered open sometime in the middle of Phil’s ministrations, and she was wracked by terrible sobs that were mostly silent at this point.

Phil’s blue eyes were locked with her green, and he refused to look away, smiling at her in an attempt to comfort.

“It’ll be okay. It’ll all be over soon,” he assured her quietly, and watched as she gulped frantically for air.

Phil didn’t let go until she’d taken her last breath.

\--

“I thought I told you two to get a move on,” Phil growled menacingly as he turned a corner in the camp only to find the two brown haired boys from before huddling in front of his fire for warmth.

They both looked up frantically, looking guilty but resolved.

“Chris couldn’t continue. He needed to rest. This used to be a hospital, right?” the healthy of the two boys asked.

Phil grunted his affirmation. “But it isn’t anymore. You’re not welcome here,” he growled.

Not-Chris locked gazes with him, brown eyes determined.

“I promise we didn’t touch your supplies. Give us a break, we’ve been walking for ages.”

“Do I look like I care?” Phil asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I told you to get out of here.”

Not-Chris’s eyes narrowed.

“Look, it’s dark now. It’s not like there’s anywhere we could go. I promise you we’ll be out of here by morning, if you’ll just let us stay,” he bargained, crossing his arms over his chest like a pouty child.

Too tired and weary to argue, Phil finally just shrugged.

“Fine. But I better not see you by the time I get up,” he growled, and made his way into his tent.

The minute his head hit the pillow, the tears finally came.

\--

Dan hadn't been able to sleep. Chris had drifted off hours ago, and that man who ran the place had disappeared to wherever he went, but Dan simply couldn't sleep.

He didn't think the other man would do anything to them. He seemed... harsh, but he didn't seem like a murderer. And the warmth of the fire was a welcome change, but every time Dan closed his eyes he was greeted with images he didn't want to see.

So, he had dark circles beneath his eyes, and his hair was curly and too long, and he looked like shit.

Chris looked worse.

He was glad the other boy was getting some much needed rest, even if they had to keep walking tomorrow. Chris could use a couple days break - they both could, really.

But that man said that Manchester was almost a month away, and they didn't have that kind of time.

Dan didn't know if Chris even had that long.

And then there was the other thought lurking on the edge of his mind. The radio had said there was a vaccine, but a vaccine wasn't a cure.

What if Manchester wouldn't be able to help Dan at all?

\--

"Chris. Chris wake up," Dan said, nudging his friend.

He'd managed to fall asleep a couple of hours ago, but the sun was rising and Dan knew they needed to get a move on.

Chris merely groaned, squinting his eyes shut even tighter.

"Chris, are you okay?" Dan asked his voice worried as he knelt beside his friend.

Sweat dripped from Chris' forehead and he was clammy to the touch. How had he gotten so much worse in a handful of hours?

Looking around, Dan spotted the bucket the man had been holding the night before, the one with water and rags.

Rushing over, Dan pulled out a rag and placed it on Chris' forehead.

Half of him considered calling for help, but the man had been pretty adamant about wanting them gone. He probably wouldn't help even if Dan called.

"It's gonna be alright," Dan said, giving his friend's hand a squeeze. He could feel tears prickling in his eyes, and he sniffled, bringing one of his hands up to wipe away his tears. "It's gonna be alright."

\--

 


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys, today’s update is a little bit early as i won’t be home later this evening. Thanks katthequeen520 and mostlikelyprocrastinating for being super awesome beta’s! Next update is Thursday over on insanityplaysfics

Phil couldn’t help but be annoyed when he woke up to find that the two boys from yesterday were  _still_  in his camp. Hadn’t not-Chris made an agreement with him to be gone by morning? Either way, it was clear that he was not.

“I thought I told you-”

“Chris is sick,” not-Chris interrupted him, tears still wet on his cheeks as he looked up.

Phil sighed, and walked up to him. Hidden safely behind his body was Chris, who was very clearly at the turning point. Here, he would either get worse, or he would get better.

There was already a cool rag placed against his forehead, and as Phil knelt to check his pulse, not-Chris shuffled away.

“His pulse is strong,” he stated calmly as he pulled away, standing and dusting his hands off on his thighs as he moved away. Not-Chris quickly took his place, copying Phil’s earlier movements.

“What does that mean?” not-Chris asked as Phil turned his back on him, going for the bucket of cool water to refill it.

“It means he might yet survive,” Phil responded, and then he was gone.

\--

When he returned, not-Chris was staring forlornly at his friend, and Phil sighed as he rolled his eyes.

_Children, they can’t do anything_ , he thought.

“What’s your name?” he called out as he got closer. Not-Chris’s head snapped up at his voice.

“Dan,” he replied, shuffling so that he was no longer curled up with his knees pressed into his chest. “Yours?”  
  


“Phil. If you’re going to stay here, you might as well make yourself useful. Follow me,” he commanded, expecting Dan to follow behind him as he made his way back to the sick bay.

  
Today, he would have to bury Maggie. Though the majority left were in a constant state of their own pain, her death could quickly get to them. He couldn’t leave her for much longer.

It didn’t take them long to find the tent, and Phil pulled back the flap to let both Dan and him inside. Phil watched as Dan’s eyes darted around the room uncomfortably.

“Are you immune?” Phil asked belatedly, and watched as Dan nodded his head.

“Pretty sure, yeah,” he answered quietly.

“Good, follow behind me. You take care of the person on the left; I’ll take care of the person on the right. Do you know-”

“Yes,” Dan said, cutting Phil off, and Phil nodded his head as he set to work.

His footsteps were deft as he avoided looking at or moving past Maggie, whose sleeping bag he’d dragged off to the side last night.

He kneeled next to Paul, Maggie’s partner, and set to work.

“What about them?” Dan asked as he settled next to Phil, nodding his chin in Maggie’s direction.

“She’s dead,” Phil stated, deadpan.

Dan didn’t say another word.

\--

As soon as the sick were taken care of, Phil stood and led Dan back out into the camp. They made their way back to where Chris lay, and while Dan looked over his friend, Phil made his way to the tiny supply shed back behind his tent.

He returned with two shovels, and threw one at Dan.

“What’s this for?” Dan asked, bewildered as he caught it and followed after Phil again.

“To dig a hole. We’ve got a body to bury,” Phil replied, tossing Dan a hostile smirk. “Or did you forget about Maggie?” he asked, watching with satisfaction as Dan frowned and looked away.

\--

Dan's hands were bleeding. The shovel had chaffed them raw. But he had more important matters to worry about.

Chris was shaking, and he hadn't opened his eyes in hours.

"I thought you said he would get better," he snapped at Phil.

"I said he  _might_ , it's up to his body now," Phil replied. He'd been keeping himself away from the two boys, but now he wandered over.

"Stupid Chris," Dan muttered. "He always was the first to catch the flu."

"Where are you two from?" Phil asked, sitting down beside Dan.

Dan turned to glance at the other man. "Why do you care?" He snapped. "You've made it perfectly clear that you don't want us here."

Phil merely shrugged.

"We're from London," Dan added after a moment. "We're trying to get to Manchester."

"I know," Phil said, though he sounded almost sad. "Everyone is."

"Did there used to be more people here?" Dan asked, turning to lock eyes with the other man's.

Phil nodded. "They left for Manchester a couple days ago."

"Why didn't you go?"

"Someone had to watch the ill."

Dan studied the ground, letting Phil's words hang in the air between them. He wasn't so sure he believed the other man's reasoning.

\--

Dan had been watching Phil. There was something about the other man, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

His black hair hung in a too long fringe, much like Dan's own, though his ginger roots were showing. He used to dye his hair. His blue eyes were piercing, but haunted. He wore glasses, thick, black rimmed.

Dan wondered if they had more in common than they thought.

He looked like the kind of guy Dan would have been friends with,  _before_.

He'd been at the makeshift hospital for almost three days, and Chris wasn't getting any better. If anything, he was getting worse.

Phil had been avoiding the both of them, keeping himself busy inside his tents, and thankfully he hadn't asked Dan for any more help.

Dan knew that he couldn't support Chris while he was like this.

There was no way they were making it to Manchester, not without a miracle.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't murder me, as I know many of you will want to. This chapter includes **Character Death** , but also finally gets the ball rolling for the story too _really_ begin. If nothing else, be excited for that!
> 
> Thanks, as always, to beta's [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com), and next update Saturday!

The days bore on for Phil. Slowly, his charges died off one after another, and his heart broke just a little bit more with each death.

He didn’t ask Dan for help again. He dug each grave himself, crying silently over the red earth. He was reverent as he placed each body in its grave, and, though he’d dug each hole swiftly, buried them as slowly as he could - as if they would notice each pile of dirt as it landed on top of them.

His eyes were red and swollen each day as he made his way back to his tent, but he never once looked at the two boys for longer than he had too.

He didn’t want to get attached.

By the end of the week, all of his charges were gone, and Phil didn’t get out of bed.

\--

“Phil, please! Where are you!? He’s convulsing, and I don’t know what to do!” a shrill voice was screaming, getting louder and louder until it had barreled past Phil’s tent. Phil opened his eyes slowly, sighing as he climbed blearily out of bed.

His limbs were sore and stiff, and he hadn’t eaten all day, so the room spun and he was forced to balance himself against a loose pole. This almost made things worse, as it shifted under his palm and he almost fell to the floor.

Still, the boy was calling for him, and from the sounds of it, his friend was almost dead.

As much as Phil wanted to ignore Dan, he couldn’t bear the thought of the boy having to deal with his friend’s death alone. The way Phil had dealt with so much death already.

“Boy!” Phil shouted as he finally made his way out of the tent, shielding his eyes against the harsh sun. “Stop running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off. I’m right here!” he growled.

Dan appeared around the corner then, his face a mask of tortured pain. There were tear tracks dribbling down his cheeks, and Phil knew then and there that Dan knew it was all over.

He knew then and there that this wasn’t Dan’s first death.

Throwing Dan a small smile, Phil offered him his hand, and allowed the disheveled young man to lead him swiftly back to Chris.

Dan didn’t stop running until he’d collapsed at Chris’s side, staring dejectedly at his friends shaking form as his hands trembled and he frantically waved them around, unsure what to do.

“Please, just...help him,” Dan begged, not bothering to look at Phil, and Phil knew from the sound of his voice that he wasn’t asking for a miracle.

He was asking for Phil to ease Chris’s pain.

Eyes sad, Phil joined Dan on the floor, and gently rolled Chris so that he was on his side. He pressed his fingers into the soft flesh of the boy’s neck, and pressed into the swollen glands he found there to release some of the pressure and allow him to breathe easier.

He did, but only slightly.

“Hold here,” Phil instructed, grabbing Dan’s hand and dragging his fingers to Chris’s neck to replace Phil’s. Then he stood, and hobbled over to the bucket that held very little water at this point.

Removing the rags, Phil lifted the bucket, and, once he was by Chris’s side again, dumped the remaining water over his shivering body.

Both Dan and Chris gasped, but Dan’s was more of a hiccup of acceptance and pain, while Chris’s was in vague relief.

Phil could hear Dan sobbing quietly as he made his way to the supply shed to grab what little food he had left, a small baggie of dried beef, and returned to the two boys.

Shredding the meat into tiny bits, Phil began pressing them into Chris’s mouth. He hadn’t done this for any of the elders he’d had to lay to rest that week, but this was different. This was a child on his death bed, and though Phil didn’t know him, he wanted to make his end the best that he could.

As the food ran out, Chris’s body began to be wracked by painful coughs once again. Phil pushed Dan out of the way gently, and pressed his fingers back into the soft glands of his neck once again.

The fingers of his other hand pressed into the small of Chris’s back, holding him in place.

Dan reached out and took Chris’s hand.

They waited.

\--

It took a few hours for Chris to die, but Phil never once left either boys side. He watched as brown eyes shot open, searching for Dan, and quickly switched places with the younger man. His fingers only left Chris’s body for a short moment before returning.

Dan didn’t have enough presence of mind to copy Phil’s actions. Instead, he sobbed as he spoke soft, consoling words to his friend.

All the while, Phil watched him, for the first time, really taking him in.

He couldn’t be much older than 18, and his cheeks were soft but gaunt. It was clear he rarely ate much, not that that was much different from anyone else in the world at this point. His jaw was shaped by weariness, but not age just yet, and his hair was a long mess of springy curls.

There was grief etched into the laugh lines around his mouth that Phil knew all too well.

When Chris took his last breath, Dan collapsed over him, sobs wracking his body as he hugged him.

Phil left him to his grief.

\--

There were tear streaks down Dan's face, though he had no more tears to cry. He couldn't believe Chris was gone. They had grown up together; they were practically brothers. He was Dan's last tie to home.

And he was gone.

Phil hadn't spoken to him since Chris had died, which Dan was grateful for. He wasn't sure that he was in the mood for talking.

He could tell that Phil wasn't either, and Dan wasn't stupid enough to fool himself into believing that any of the others in the camp were still alive.

And that had to be Dan's concern now. He had to keep himself alive. He could do that.

Basic functions. Eat, drink, sleep. These were commands he could give himself, though he wasn't quite sure why he bothered.

What was there for him? His goal had been to get Chris to Manchester. Going there now seemed like a moot point.

Still, it's not like he had anywhere else to go. So he packed up his bag, filled his water bottle, and checked his rations: a box of stale crackers, some kind of trail mix, some beef sticks - not much.

He'd have to hit up some place along the way.

It felt lonely, packing his bag without Chris to joke beside him, without his little brother to whine about the lack of food, his parents to scold him quietly. Wiping the back of his hand across his eyes, Dan studied the hospital for the last time.

\--

"Where are you going?" Phil called, making Dan turn around to face the other man.

"I'm leaving," Dan said with a shrug.

"Where are you going?" Phil asked again. He looked confused.

"Manchester, like I said before."

"But-"

"Maybe I can help, maybe someone I know will be there," Dan replied quickly, before Phil could even ask the question.

"I'll come with you," Phil said suddenly, then looked surprised with himself.

"Suit yourself," Dan said, shrugging his pack onto his shoulder.

The other man wasn't much, but some company was better than none, he supposed.

Even if the company was a right asshole.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that today’s update is a bit late guys, as I was out all day and unable to post. Anyway, it’s here now so enjoy. Thank you to mostlikelyprocrastinating and katthequeen520 for being super awesome beta’s. Next update is coming Tuesday

Phil wasn’t sure what had possessed him to decide to go with Dan. In fact, it almost felt like it wasn’t  _him_  when he’d said he’d go. But there had been panic crawling at the inside of his throat, and he’d almost choked on it at the sight of Dan packing his bag and getting ready to leave.

He’d promised himself he wouldn’t get attached, and yet, some how he had.

Maybe it had been seeing Dan fall apart over the loss of his friend. Maybe it had been the quiet afternoons spent together in almost companionable silence for the last week. Maybe the loneliness had finally crawled its way into Phil’s heart, and despite his desire to never see Manchester again, he wanted to be alone even less.

He hadn’t realized when he’d sent the others away, that, once the sick were finally dead, and he was left with nothing, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. He hadn’t anticipated the cold feeling of dread in his veins when the world became a blank slate of literal nothingness for Phil, and he hadn’t imagined that some child would wander into his life and bring out his protective instincts.

And yet, here he was, feeling nervous and somehow afraid as he packed what few belongings he had left into a burlap bag.

There were few supplies left scattered about the camp, but Phil found them.

There were traps, to catch wildlife, and nets, for fishing, a knife that was forever attached to Phil’s belt, and a foot of rope.

Phil almost left behind the shovel, but he could already imagine the boy dying, and he didn’t want to leave him behind unburied like so many had been back at home, so he brought it along like a cane that, ironically, helped him to walk.

He was weak, and while he knew the younger male had food left, Phil refused to ask for it.

They left at noon.

\--

They had just about made it out of the city limits when Phil’s sharp ears caught the sound of ruffling, and he reached out an arm to stop Dan walking as he came to a halt.

  
“Wha-”

“Shh!” Phil whispered quietly, shifting his body slightly to follow the sound of the noise. It took a moment of Dan staring at him in confusion before Phil caught the little white tail of a rabbit jumping to hide behind a bush, and he smiled.

“Stay here,” he mumbled, lightly laying down the shovel that had been propping him up. He crouched, hand going straight for the knife at his belt, and within moments, he’d snuck up on the rabbit and sunk the knife into the soft flesh of its neck.

A tiny whimper made its way into the air, and then a gasp that was mostly definitely Dan’s, filtered to Phil’s ears.

“Did you just murder a bunny!?” the boy asked. Phil turned to look at him, eyes shrewd as he took in his offended demeanor.

“How else are we going to survive if we don’t hunt?” Phil asked, eyebrow quirked as he stood up, the rabbit held tightly in his hands by its ears.

“I don’t know, by stealing?” Dan asked, incredulous, eyes bugged out as he avoided looking at the creature in Phil’s hands.

Phil snorted. “We’ll have more luck hunting. Don’t worry, it was painless...mostly. And we won’t kill more than we have too,” Phil assured the other boy, quickly pulling out a leather strap to staunch the flow of blood from the rabbit, before stuffing the carcass into his bag.

Dan stared at him in disgust.

“I’m not eating that, and there’s no way in  _hell_  I’m killing anything!” he exclaimed, turning on his heel abruptly and storming away. Phil just rolled his eyes, bending to pick up his shovel and follow in his footsteps.

\--

Dan had decided that he was wrong. Solitude was certainly preferable over the company of Phil.

It wasn't anything the man had said, rather the aura that he presented. It wasn't pleasant. In fact, it seemed to Dan like the air was heavy with unspoken tension.

But Phil had been right about the rabbit. Hunting was an easier food source than raiding the local Tesco's. And having a hot meal for the first time in ages was a welcome change.

Still, it wasn't as if he was going to tell the other man that.

"I'll keep watch," Phil spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "You should get some rest."

Dan glanced around the area they were camping in; it used to be someone's lounge. A sofa lay on its side, the coffee table glass shattered.

He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep here. Not that he was able to sleep anywhere else.

"Yeah, okay," he agreed, mostly to placate Phil. He figured the other man didn't plan on sleeping either.

\--

In the end it was probably a good thing that neither of them slept. The radio was broadcasting again. Dan considered it lucky that Phil's wasn't a hand crank powered one, even if it was broken and probably low on batteries, because it at least told Dan to turn his on.

"- is Doctor Liguori speaking, please, if anyone is suspected of being immune to the disease _please_ come to the city of Manchester. You could be of great use in the creation of a cure."

Turning his wide brown eyes to Phil's blue ones, Dan chewed on his lip. So he'd been right. There hadn't been a cure after all, just something to stop others from getting sick.

"This is great, Dan," Phil enthused. "They actually need us."

Dan wasn't so convinced.

\--

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Dan asked, following behind Phil.

"I got myself up here, didn't I?" Phil snapped.

"You're from Manchester?" Dan said, surprised.

Phil nodded.

"Is that why you didn't go back with everybody else?"

Phil didn't answer.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not that we’re over the hurdle of how much you all hate me now, and delving into the realm of actual plot movement, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Next update on Thursday!
> 
> Special thanks as always to [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com) for being awesome betas!

The news that people like Phil, and Dan, could actually be useful in the plight towards saving lives, came as a punch in the gut for Phil. For a moment, he was absolutely speechless.

Then, the cogs in his mind set to spinning, and the realization that he could _save lives_ , rather than just ease suffering, made his heart start to ache.

“This is great, Dan!” he’d enthused. “They actually need us!” he’d said.

“They actually need us…” he’d repeated again after a moment of silence.

For the first time since Phil had found out that he was immune, he felt grateful.

\--

Phil’s excitement was short-lived. Dan was nearly unresponsive, and finished the rest of the rabbit with him without complaint. He wasn’t sure what his deal was, but he quickly stopped caring the moment Dan brought up his ties to Manchester.

Grunting noncommittally, they continued on their way.

Phil’s strength was slowly coming back to him, but he continued to use the shovel as something to prop him up from time to time. After all, he’d spent at least a day and a half in bed, refusing to eat anything. Being on the rations was bad enough without the added stress of self-neglect.

When nightfall came, Phil picked their shelter. They were in-between towns, following a deserted freeway, but sticking as closely to the tree lined walls as possible in fear of being spotted by someone or something unsavory.

A few times, they very nearly ran into a fox wandering around, just like them, looking for food, but they managed to skirt away and out of its path.

At this point, Phil was setting up a fire in a ditch while Dan moped against one of the dirt walls.

“What’s up with you?” he asked quietly as he pulled out a nearly dead lighter and set the gathered twigs and dry grass on fire.

Dan just shook his head.

“Hungry, that’s all,” the boy answered, but he didn’t reach into his pack for food.

Phil shrugged, and sat down opposite him, warming his hands against the fire.

“I’ll take first watch again,” he eventually mumbled in response, reaching for the small canteen he’d brought with him from his camp. It was already nearly empty, but Phil took a sip anyway. He wasn’t sure when next they’d find a safe place to refill, but he was also once again out of food.

Across from him, Phil watched Dan eventually lay down.

It hadn’t been more than 20 minutes before the boy spoke up again.

“Why did you leave Manchester?” he asked quietly, making Phil jump in surprise. He narrowed his eyes at the question, but shrugged.

“Why did you leave London?” he asked, voice harsh.

The flicker of the fire against Dan’s face showed him his wince, but Phil almost couldn’t bring himself to care.

“I watched my whole family die. Chris was all I had left,” Dan eventually admitted, and from the way he was staring at the fire, Phil could tell that he was unable to sleep.

“I think the hardest part is outliving my little brother, and knowing that, most likely, I’ll never contract the plague,” Dan continued after a moment, eyes flickering up to meet Phil’s, expression set like he was expecting Phil to admit something similar to him.

Instead, Phil just grunted.

\--

“I took care of the majority of my town, until my parents and older brother died. Somehow, I ended up at the hospital, and watched more people than I’d care to admit, die. I never meant to get attached, but it doesn’t work like that,” Phil finally admitted sometime later, voice quiet.

He almost wasn’t sure that Dan was even still awake, but then the younger boy smiled up at him reassuringly, and he smiled back.

\--

The silences between them didn't feel so awkward anymore. Instead, they felt almost... companionable. Dan had one hand gripping his pack and the other shoved into the pocket of his once too tight, now too loose, skinny jeans.

Phil was a couple of feet ahead of him, and Dan considered catching up for half a second. He was allowed to do that now, wonder if he could could catch up to the older boy and walk side by side.

They weren't friends, not yet, but it was a start.

However, he discarded the idea, getting the sense that the other boy wanted to be left alone.

He was beginning to understand that Phil's aura of unpleasantness was more of a defense system.

Maybe Dan just needed to break that defense system down. It would certainly make their walks more interesting.

"Hey, Phil," he called, though he didn't try and catch up. "What did you do _before?_ Did you have a job?"

"How old do you think I am?" Phil turned around to ask him, raising an eyebrow.

Dan merely shrugged.

"Well, I'm only 23," Phil snapped, though it wasn't harsh. "I was in university," he added after a moment, his voice soft. "Getting my major in Video Editing."

"That's cool," Dan said honestly, "I was about to start Uni. I was supposed to take Law. I probably dodged a bullet with that one."

Phil laughed, though Dan knew his joke was neither funny nor in good taste. "You would never make it as a lawyer."

"A law degree makes you look smart," Dan said weakly.

"You don't need a fancy degree to look smart, Dan. You already are."

\--


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to mostlikelyprocrastinating and katthequeen520 for being super awesome beta’s as always. The next update is on Saterday (though I’m sure you all know the drill by now :D) and enjoy ~

 

Phil's compliment was still ringing in Dan's ears. He wasn't even sure why the older man's opinion of him mattered so much. **  
**

It certainly hadn't a week ago.

But if Dan was being perfectly honest with himself, he was growing rather fond of Phil. And that scared the shit out of him.

Because what would he do once Phil left him? Because that's all anyone ever did. None of them lasted forever.

His parents, his kid brother, his best friend. All dead and gone. Dan felt like an unlucky charm. A black cat. A broken mirror.

He certainly wasn't healthy to be around. Not that Phil was much better, really. They were a bit of an unlikely pair.

Maybe their respective bad luck would cancel each other out. Dan could use a bit of peace.

He doubted he would get it.

\--

Night came swiftly, and with it, a heavy downpour. Lucky for Dan and Phil, they had reached the next town, and found an abandoned house fairly quickly. Phil made Dan wait outside while Phil did a quick look around, but once he was sure the coast was clear, he waved Dan in.

They were quick to do a thorough search of the kitchen, where Phil managed to find an expired box of saltines, half destroyed, under the sink.

He sunk to the floor with relief in his eyes, and shook the destroyed hunks and crumbs into his mouth, almost forgetting to stop half way and offer the box to Dan.

When he did, Dan sunk to the floor next to him, and swallowed the food down calmly and slowly. Phil could feel his gaze burning a hole into the side of his face as he washed the salty taste down with the last of the water in his canteen.

“What?” he muttered when he was done, wiping a hand across his mouth, and turning to lock gazes with Dan.

“You’re out of rations, aren’t you?” Dan eventually asked quietly. Phil shrugged, but nodded softly.

Then Dan reached over to dig around in his bag, and handed Phil a small stick of meat wrapped in cellophane.

“No, Dan, that’s yours,” Phil mumbled quietly, pushing Dan’s hand away from his. “I’ll go hunting when the rain stops. It’ll draw out the animals, and I have a trap and a net for fishing. I saw a lake a few miles back -”

“Phil,” Dan said, cutting him off, eyebrows raised. “Take it. It could be hours before any of that, and you need food now,” he explained softly, pressing back against Phil gently and dropping the food into his lap before he could protest again.

Phil could do nothing but stare as Dan stood up and left the room, shooting over his shoulder that he was going to go try and start a fire in the living room.

After a moment, Phil picked up the small slab of meat in his lap reverently, before ripping open the packaging and sinking his teeth into it.

Though it was old, it was the best thing Phil had tasted since the rabbit.

\--

“Thanks,” Phil mumbled as he made his way back to Dan, settling beside him where he’d successfully managed to start a fire without Phil’s help.

“No problem,” Dan responded noncommittally.

They were silent, but it wasn’t awkward, like it used to be, and for that, Phil was thankful.

\--

“I read once, that you can drink rain water without having to filter it, as long as you collect it straight as it falls, and it’s not just after a fire or something,” Dan said as they both sat huddled in the doorway of their safe house the next morning.

The rain had continued through the night, and while they were both anxious to get to Manchester, they’d agreed it was better to wait the storm out then to get sick from something as simple as a cold, and die from a weakened immune system or something.

Phil hummed.

“I guess it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” he asked, throwing a glance at his empty canteen. “We could get along longer without food than water,” he added, and then stood, stretching his limbs with a yawn as the shirt that was too small for him rode up his stomach.

As he leaned back over for his canteen, Dan clutched his arm.

“We share supplies from now on, got it?” the younger boy demanded, eyes fierce as he very obviously glared at Phil’s midriff.

“When I first met you, you were definitely not that thin,” he remarked coolly, and then he let Phil go.

Phil stood back up, surprised, but nodded mutely, before turning and leaving their shelter.

The rain was cold on the back of his neck, but it was a welcome feeling. Maybe it would shock him out of the clouded mindset he’d managed to fall into in the last few minutes. As Phil collected water, his mind wandered to just how observant the younger boy had been.

And he thought, maybe, just maybe, they made a good team.

\--

Dan hated the fact that Phil had barely eaten anything in a couple of days. Starving himself wasn't going to help either of them. Hopefully his little confrontation would do the other boy a world of good.

Shaking his water bottle to see how full of rainwater it was, Dan screwed the cap on with a small smile. Who would've thought that someday all of the English rain would be good for something?

He turned to see Phil lurking in the doorway of the house they had spent the night in.

"What are you smiling about?" Phil asked, though half a smile was playing with the corners of his own mouth.

"I used to hate the rain," Dan replied with a shrug. Now it felt refreshing, wiping away days worth of dirt and sweat.

"So did I," Phil said, stepping out into the cool mist.

The other boy was close, closer than he usually was, and Dan could see flecks of gold and green in his blue eyes.

Dan felt like he was drowning.

What the hell?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, super short chapter today. Sorry about that! I’m starting to think I should have split this up into huger portions at a time, rather than dragging you guys through the mud. Too late now. I hope you enjoy :)
> 
> Special thanks as always to [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com)! Next update on Tuesday!

Dan had been musing on what had happened for the past few hours, while they walked.

It was almost like he was _attracted_ to Phil. But no, that couldn't be the case. Phil was a guy, first of all.

But something about the way he had looked.

Dan couldn't deny that there had definitely been _something_ between them.

It was weird. Because he didn't even really _like_ Phil, let alone think of him as attractive.

Besides, the end of the world wasn't exactly the time to be having dating problems. And by the time they got to Manchester, they would probably be going their separate ways.

Dan shouldn't let himself get attached like this. It probably wouldn't end well.

\--

There was a pull of attraction in the pit of Phil’s stomach that he couldn’t quite ignore, as much as he’d liked to - as much as it made him feel _wrong_ , on so many levels.

Dan hadn’t told him old he was, but there was an obvious age difference if Dan had barely been ready to start university back when all of this had started, and besides, this was the worst time to grow attached to someone - when they could be yanked away from you at any moment, just because _the plague_ decided to claim them as their next victim.

It was just attraction, though; a physical desire that Phil had been ignoring since day one, a lust that had creeped up the back of this throat like a snake. There was nothing else to it. How could there be? Phil hardly knew the boy.

And he was a _boy_. Barely a child, who’d proven he was more of a man than he had any right to be...

Still, Phil shrugged the arousal to the back of his mind, and kept his thoughts on other things.

Like the lake he’d promised Dan he’d seen a few miles back two days ago, that was nowhere to be found now.

They’d left an animal trap back just outside of town, but Phil wanted to return with more food than that.

There was no way to store Fish, but with the tiny supply of salt Phil had stored away, they could salt and dry the meat to make beef jerky if they planned it right.

“Phil!” Dan suddenly exclaimed from beside him, and Phil whipped around in fear, only to find that Dan was pointing excitedly towards the lake that Phil had somehow missed.

Phil couldn’t help but match his grin.

“Let’s go!”

\--

They didn’t talk much, as Phil laid out the net, allowing it to settle softly at the very bottom of the pool of water. Dan meanwhile, wandered about the tiny copse of trees nearby, looking for anything else edible on Phil’s orders.

Phil, for his part, was standing stock-still waist deep in water, trying to keep at bay any movements to lure in the fish.

Eventually, a few fish settled at the bottom of the net to peck at the worms Phil had left there as bait. Once they’d settled, and stopped darting in and out, Phil yanked the net closed, and returned to shore.

“Did you catch anything?”

“Three,” Phil replied shortly, settling the net down softly and reaching in to kill and gut the fish. Dan watched on from the tree line.

“Did you find anything?” Phil eventually asked, once the fish had been taken care of, setting them to the side on the ground, and standing to brush dirt off his knees.

Dan shook his head, though his gaze remained on Phil as if he were searching for something. Unnerved, Phil pushed passed the younger man, and began to gather firewood they could take back to their safe house for the night.

“Find a way to pack up that fish,” he said gruffly, and then Dan was out of sight, out of mind.

But not really.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I am so so sorry that this is late. I had a super stressful day yesterday and forgot to post. Anyway, thanks to mostlikelyprocrastinating and katthequeen520 for being super cool beta’s. Next update is tomorrow. Enjoy ~

Phil had been acting weird. Weirder than usual, that is - avoiding Dan's gaze and barely talking to him. In fact, it reminded Dan of how he'd acted the first day he and Chris had shown up at the camp.

If Dan didn't know better, he'd say he was acting almost guilty. But there wasn't anything for Phil to be guilty of, so Dan knew he was classifying the other boy's actions wrong.

They'd been walking for almost a week - a week without any new radio transmissions, a week of sore feet and sore lungs. But Phil promised that they were almost halfway to Manchester, so they kept walking.

"Watch out," Phil cried suddenly, bringing his ever-present shovel up like a weapon.

Standing on his tip toes to peer past Phil, Dan spotted a mangy looking mutt standing not far in front of them.

"It's just a dog, Phil," he said, with a soft chuckle.

Phil glanced at him, his blue eyes flashing. "A dog that hasn't eaten in who knows how long."

Ignoring the older man, Dan stepped around him, crouching down. "Here boy."

"What are you doing?" Phil hissed.

"It's fine," Dan reassured him, reaching his hands out toward the dog.

Slowly, the thing shuffled toward him. It's fur was nothing but grey knots, and he was limping. Soon Dan found his fingers tangled in soft fur.

"I don't think he'd hurt a fly," Dan said, turning back to face Phil.

Phil just shrugged, "Come on then."

\--

By the end of the day, the dog had won Phil over, and Dan was surprised at just how soft Phil was being with it, checking it's legs to see why it was limping.

"It's just slowing us down," he'd protested when Dan had said as much, though Dan could tell that he was blushing.

"You like it," Dan teased him. "You should name him."

"We can't name it," Phil replied. "If you name it you get too attached."

Dan decided to call him Earl Grey anyway.

\--

There was a sore etched into the tendon at the back of one of the dog’s legs that Phil wasn’t sure how to heal, so he left it alone for the moment. Ruffling the coarse, knotted hair on the top of the dog’s head, Phil stood back up and picked up his shovel, ignoring the knowing look and muffled laughter coming from Dan behind him, and continued on his way.

Dan was quick to follow after, the dog a constant presence at Phil’s side.

“Have you ever had a dog before?” Dan asked.

“Never,” Phil responded.

“Well, we’ve got one now!” Dan said cheerily, beginning to whistle softly as he matched his pace to Phil’s, the way the younger boy had been doing for the past few days now.

Phil just grunted.

\--

The moment they were officially settled for the night, Phil patted his lap. There was a piece of old meat clutched between his fingers that he was offering to their newfound dog, who immediately bounded over, licking at Phil’s fingers but refusing to bite down.

“Ah, ah,” Phil spoke softly, eyes wide as he imitated opening his mouth wide. The dog watched him with sharp brown eyes, and then copied the motion.

Phil grinned as he dropped the piece of meat into his mouth.

From across the campfire, Dan laughed.

Phil threw him a dirty look. “Shut up,” he grumbled, pressing his fingers into the coarse fur under the dogs ears as it pressed itself into Phil’s personal space, lapping at his face.

Fighting him for just a moment, Phil settled the dog onto his lap properly, and forced him to roll to his side.

“I told you, you like him,” Dan teased, still nibbling on a long piece of grain Phil had pulled out for them earlier.

“Whatever,” Phil shot back, rolling his eyes. Then he was focused back on the dog, and the wound at the back of his leg.

Fingers nimble as they pressed into fur thick with blood, Phil pushed as much of it away as he could in order to see the wound more clearly. The dog whined, but otherwise didn’t react, as Phil examined it closely. It was still open, and bleeding.

“What are you doing, now?” Dan asked then, eyes suspicious as Phil reached out to pick up an unused stick, and burned the end.

Phil hardly glanced at him.

“Cauterizing the wound,” Phil replied, holding the dog tight in his arms as he brought the stick closer to him.

“Wait, what!?” Dan shouted, eyes wide and horrified. Phil ignored him.

A painful grunt of a whine tore from the dog’s throat then, and Dan jumped up, racing to Phil’s side.

“Stop it, you’re hurting him!” Dan yelled. Before he could bat the hot stick out of Phil’s hand, and possibly injure the dog further, Phil pulled it away and threw it to the side.

“Shhh, shhh,” he whispered to the dog, rubbing at it’s mangy ears softly as he grabbed the soft piece of leather he’d pulled out earlier with his other hand, and pressed it into the cauterized wound.

The dog whined again, but stared up at Phil with trusting eyes, so Phil smiled back.

“What the fuck, Phil!?” Dan yelled again, and Phil finally looked up.

“What?” he asked.

“You just burned Earl Gray!”

“I thought I told you not to name him,” Phil murmured, turning back to the wounded dog in his arms and scratching just on top of his ear. “And I didn’t burn him. I helped him. Now the wound can properly heal,” Phil tried to explain.

After a moment, Dan huffed and sat back down across from him. Phil watched from under his lashes as the boy picked up the piece of grain he’d dropped earlier, and returned it to his mouth. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would apologize, but I’m not going too :D You’re welcome. Next update on Saturday!
> 
> Thanks as always to beta’s [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com)!

"Is that it?" Dan asked some days later, holding his hand up to his eyes.

The outline of a city stretched across the horizon, still distant, but it seemed close enough to touch.

Phil nodded, "I didn't realize we were so close."

"Are you okay?" Dan asked, watching Phil out of the corner of his eyes. The other boy just shrugged.

"I'll be better once we find this Doctor Liguori and figure out what the hell we can do to help."

"Yeah," Dan said in agreement. "They'll let us keep our dog, right?"

"I can't imagine they could keep him away if they tried," Phil replied, his voice dry, but Dan knew he was impressed that Earl had managed to keep up with them.

"So where in the city do you think they are? I mean, Manchester's pretty big."

"I have no idea."

\--

The city was dark by the time they finally reached it, the buildings looming overhead and casting odd shadows.

"It looks so different," Phil said, glancing around.

Dan hadn't known what it looked like before, but now it looked like something from the Walking Dead (minus the zombies). It was completely empty, and he could practically hear the silence in between his breaths.

Cars were abandoned in the road, windows and doors smashed and scattered. 

"Should we go somewhere to sleep for the night? And explore in the morning?" Dan asked, picking nervously at a thread on his shirt.

"That sounds like a good idea," Phil agreed, "what about that building?" He asked, gesturing toward an apartment building on the other side of the street.

"Looks good."

\--

It was difficult, for Phil to be back in Manchester. There were ghosts all around him, it seemed, and they were barely on the outskirts of the city. He didn’t want to know how painful it was going to be once they hit Manchester City Center.

So many distant memories to reflect on, friends and family to mourn a second time…

Earl Gray seemed to sense his melancholy, because it wasn’t long before the dog had wormed it’s way into Phil’s lap.

Across their makeshift fire, Dan was avoiding looking at him.

“I’m sorry,” the younger boy suddenly said, and Phil looked up at him in surprise. He was poking at small embers at the edges of their fire with a stick.

“For what?” he asked.

“Bringing you here,” Dan replied.

Phil scoffed. “I brought _you_ here. Besides, it was my idea. You have nothing to be sorry about,” Phil assured Dan, turning his gaze back to the sweet dog in his lap, and running his fingers through its coarse fur.

Its deep brown eyes were staring up at him, and they reminded Phil of Dan.

He shook his head.

“But still,” Dan finally mumbled. “It’s my fault you’re here. I know it must be hard for you.”

Phil shrugged.

“I guess,” he eventually said, voice trailing off as he turned to gaze out the window of the apartment they’d picked. There were so many memories swirling at the surface of his mind, but he was fighting them back.

He feared talking to Dan would draw them out of him.

They were silent for a while, Dan continuing to poke at the slow burning embers in front of them, and Phil continuing to avoid his gaze as he stroked the dog in his lap.

The dog he swore he would protect from anyone who might try to take him from them once they found the rest of the survivors. Dan had been right, after all. The dog - Earl Gray - had definitely grown on Phil.

“Do you think we’ll be alright?” Dan suddenly asked, causing Phil’s head to shoot up from where he’d been staring.

“Sorry, what?” he asked.

“Do you think we’ll be alright?” Dan asked again, and Phil could see from the way he was biting his lip that he was afraid. “Do you think...maybe this isn’t the end?”

Phil didn’t answer. Instead, he matched gazes with Dan, brown eyes meeting blue for the first proper time in days, and Phil couldn’t help but wonder...was he falling for Dan, or was he clinging to the last person in his life he was actually becoming close to in a misconstruction of feelings?

Only one way to find out.

“Yeah...I think we’ll be alright,” Phil answered softly, smiling at Dan. Pushing Earl Gray away slightly, Phil slid to the right so he was closer to Dan - so they were no longer on opposing sides of the fire.

“I think, if the situation was different...you’d probably be my best friend, Dan,” Phil said then, eyes never once leaving Dan’s. If there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that that was true.

They’d talked a lot, during their adventure. They had a lot in common.

Phil watched Dan gulp.

“I think so too,” the younger boy answered quietly.

Phil shuffled closer again.

“I don’t want to lose you when we find the others,” Phil said quietly. Their knees were touching now, and Phil’s mind was buzzing pleasantly.

Dan licked his lips.

“Me either,” Dan said, and he was leaning into Phil the same way Phil was leaning into him, their breaths suddenly mixing in the small space of air between them.

“I don’t know...what’s going to happen now, Dan...but…”

Phil never finished his sentence. Instead, he pressed his lips to Dan’s and melted under the gentle pressure of Dan kissing back. There was the warm heat of attraction in the pit of his stomach, but now there were also butterflies. Butterflies that Phil hadn’t felt since his high school days, with his last boyfriend.

Butterflies that could only really mean one thing, and whether it was a product of being the last two people in each other’s lives, or real romance, Phil no longer cared.

Carefully, he guided his fingers into Dan’s hair until they were tangled in the curly locks, and pressed forward gently, chests colliding.

Dan made a soft noise beneath him that only spurred Phil on, and then they were on the ground, Dan underneath Phil as Phil carefully straddled him.

Maybe they shouldn’t be doing this - Dan was so much younger than Phil. They were in Manchester, a place where all Phil had left was grief. There was no guarantee either of them would survive.

And yet -

And yet all Phil wanted to do was press Dan into the ground and snog the life out of him.

So that’s what he did.

\--


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Are these even necessary any more XD) Next update is Tuesday, thank you to mostlikelyprocrastinating and katthequeen520 for being super awesome beta’s!

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, but when morning came, Phil regretted what he’d done. **  
**

The sun shone bright against his eyes, and Earl Gray was curled up somewhere near their feet, but Phil could only berate himself.

There were so many reasons why all of this was a bad idea. Half the world was dead, and they were the survivors left to rebuild it.

No one had any time left for romance, and yet, here Phil was...trying to build something with someone who could leave him at any moment.

He sat up and pressed his face into his hands.

Behind him, Dan shuffled.

“Phil?” he asked, voice rough with sleep.

“Yeah?” Phil croaked back, not turning around.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Dan asked, sounding more alert now. Phil just shook his head.

Finally, after a few moments of tense silence, Phil turned back to Dan.

“I think...last night was a mistake,” he said slowly, and his eyes were pleading as he looked at Dan. There were tears in his eyes, and all they’d done was kiss, but...Phil couldn’t help feeling like he’d started something he couldn’t finish.

“Oh,” Dan responded simply, hanging his head and looking at his hands.

“It’s just...it’s the end of the world, and -”

“No, Phil, I get it,” Dan responded, getting up but refusing to look at Phil. “I understand. I’ll just...go get us something to eat. I saw a few houses I could try…” the younger boy trailed off, and Phil didn’t try to stop him. He just watched him walk away, and closed his eyes.

He knew this was the right thing to do, so why did his chest hurt so much?

\--

Dan felt like his heart was breaking. He shouldn't feel like this, he knew. Who cared if Phil was nothing but a fucking tease? He certainly shouldn't. But he did. God, did he care. And it hurt so god damn much.

He could barely breath, his breaths coming in short, ragged gasps. He could feel tears prickling in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He refused to show any sign of just how much Phil's words had hurt him. He didn't want to imagine the look of fucking  _pity_  that was surely gracing Phil's face.

He didn't want to think about Phil at all.

But he couldn't help himself; he'd been so sure that the other boy had felt the same way. It had certainly seemed that way. But apparently he was just lonely and Dan was convenient, and he was an asshole who was willing to take advantage of someone like that.

Well, he could burn in hell for all Dan cared.

Half of Dan was tempted to just leave, go explore Manchester on his own. He didn't need to stick with Phil. But as angry as he was at the other boy, Dan liked the idea of being utterly alone even less.

Some company was better than none, and who else would watch the dog?

\--

Growling in frustration at the knowledge that he had to go back soon, Dan swung his arm wildly, sending a punch flying into the nearby brick wall.

It stung his knuckles and left him muttering a string of curses under his breath. It certainly didn't make him feel better, as he had hoped it would.

Leaning forward so that his head was resting against the rough wall, Dan finally broke down, tears coming in waves.

He was a fucking idiot.

Don't get attached. Don't get attached. That was the rule. Well he  _had_  gotten attached and look where it left him.

Crying in front of some shop on the outskirts of Manchester. He was a mess.

"You alright, mate?" an unfamiliar voice asked, making Dan whirl around.

A brunette male was leaning against the wall on the other side of the road; he had a beanie pulled over his hair. He was the first person Dan had seen since he'd met Phil.

"Fi-Fine," Dan stuttered, wiping hastily at his tears.

"Are you sure?" The guy asked, looking genuinely concerned. "You don't look too good."

As if on cue, Dan felt something cold and distinctively metal press into his neck.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up early so I can study for my final tonight. Special thanks as always to [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com) for being awesome betas! Next update Thursday, and good luck to anyone with Finals!!!

If it hadn’t been for Earl Gray's ears pricking up, Phil wouldn’t have noticed anything was amiss for quite some time still, but Earl Gray’s ears did prick up, and he stood on powerful legs with his face pointed out towards the front door of the apartment, and begin to growl.

Phil’s head snapped up from where his gaze rested on his lap, the way he’d been sitting for ages now, at the noise, and realized the world outside had gone from gloomy mid-morning, to bright afternoon, and Dan still wasn’t back yet.

Confused, but wary, Phil stood cautiously and made his way to Earl Gray’s side, patting the dog on the rump in an attempt to assuage him, but the dog ignored him, and it occurred to Phil that if it was just Dan coming back, Earl wouldn’t be acting like this.

There must be someone else out there. Someone dangerous.

“Okay, alright, good boy shhh...shh now, shh before they hear us,” Phil frantically began whispering, sinking to his knees in front of the dog to impair his vision and take his muzzle between his hands.

“Come on, Earl. It’s okay now; it’s alright. I’m aware of the danger, you have to be quiet now,” Phil assured the dog, patting him encouragingly on the head as he finally stopped growling. Then, Phil set about grabbing their things, grabbing Dan’s pack after shoving everything into his own, and moving to huddle near a window.

Earl Gray followed his movements, his paws making a soft sound behind Phil.

They waited.

Eventually, Earl Gray began to growl again, but Phil turned and shushed him quickly. The dog fell silent, and Phil’s gaze returned to the window.

There were three of them: two men of similar height, and a third with his arms around their necks. The first two were dragging the third one along, his feet dragging against the asphalt beneath him.

Only one of them had a pack.

Phil followed their movements carefully, watching as they disappeared further into the city, but never got a good look at the third man he assumed must be sick.

Something felt wrong.

Something about the situation was screaming at Phil to watch closer, and so he did, until they were long out of sight, and he could watch no longer.

As he stood from his crouch, and dropped both his and Dan’s packs on the ground now that the danger was past, Phil couldn’t help but feel like he’d missed something important.

\--

It was late by the time Phil decided Dan wasn’t coming back.

Earl Gray was sitting by the door, eyes sad as he waited, while Phil fought back tears of his own.

It was clear that Dan had decided to move on without him, then, just as Phil had feared.

Unfortunately, Phil was well aware that it had been his own fault as he settled down to sleep on an empty stomach that night.

He would find food tomorrow. He’d take both his pack, and Dan’s, to Manchester, and maybe, if he was lucky, he’d have the chance to return Dan’s to him.

\--

When Dan woke up it was dark. Something rough and scratchy held his hands up above his head, probably rope. His head aching, he tried to remember what had happened. He'd been out walking, upset with Phil, and...

That other man!

What had he done?

Oh god, Phil was just going to think that he left because he was so upset! There was going to be no one to miss him. Was he going to die?

He picked up his head, straining to see, his eyes were slowly adjusting to the dim light. Dan thought that he was in an empty supply cupboard. That was the only thing he could think of.

Reaching with his legs, he could just barely touch what he thought was a door. But even if he managed to kick the door down, he wasn't sure how he would get his hands untied.

He wasn't a warrior, he was a survivor. He wasn't made for things like this.

Was there really no use?

\--

As if on cue with his melancholy thoughts, the door burst open, sending bright light glaring into his eyes.

"Up and at ‘em," a guy said, with either a lisp or an accent, Dan wasn't quite sure. In fact, Dan was almost positive that it was the same man as before.

"What do you want with me?" Dan demanded, hating how scratchy and thin his voice sounded. What had they done to him?

"Just come on," the man said, stepping into the room and untying the knots in the rope with swift fingers.

His hand gripped Dan's forearm, tight enough to leave bruises, as he pulled him from the cupboard.

Looking around, Dan wondered idly if they were in a school. It certainly looked like one. What were these people doing in a school?

What the hell was going on?

\--


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the ending to that last chapter XD But I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Next update is Saturday. Thank you to mostlikelyprocrastinating and katthequeen520 for being super awesome beta’s.

Sleep evaded him, and though he hated himself for the invasion of privacy, Phil couldn’t help but sit up and pull Dan’s pack to him. **  
**

His fingers shook as he pulled the drawstrings open carefully, unsure if he’d find anything of personal value inside, but hoping that he would.

It was dark, but Phil’s eyes were accustomed as he shook the bag carefully and reached inside.

By feel, Phil recognized the smooth rocks Dan had taken to picking up throughout their journey. He pulled them out one by one, and caressed their smooth surface.

There were five in total, each more luminous in the night than the last. Phil wondered how beautiful they would be during the day, and finally understood Dan’s need to collect them.

Putting them aside, Phil reached inside once again, fingers wrapping around the radio Dan had left behind, and removing that as well.

Next, his fingers sunk into the soft fabric of Chris’s t-shirt - a memento Dan had refused to leave behind, and Phil smiled sadly at the reminder of how they’d met; of how destroyed Dan had looked the moment Chris had taken his last breath.

Phil remembered, vaguely, that he’d wanted so badly to help, but knew that he couldn’t, and pushed the thoughts aside for now.

Reaching in once more, Phil only found one more object. It was cold to the touch, and heavy in his palm.

It was a rusted old pocket-watch with a long chain. Phil felt over its surface with the rough pad of his thumb, and found that it was engraved.

_From my son to your son and to his onward_

Phil could do nothing but clutch the old thing in his hand as he laid back down again, tears in his eyes, and finally drifted to sleep.

\--

He could feel it nagging at him, in the back of his mind: the thought of the three men from yesterday afternoon, and how Earl Gray had growled at them as if something was wrong.

The idea that Phil had missed something was like a constant ache in the pit of his stomach as he made his way through the city of Manchester, edging ever closer to his demons that lay at bay in Manchester City Center - the sight of the original Manchester emergency shelter, where Phil had played at doctor until the moment his family had died.

The moment Phil’s feet crossed the threshold of his worst nightmare, it finally hit him, what he’d been missing all along, and like a punch to the gut, Phil fell to the ground.

Those men from yesterday? They hadn’t been carrying a sick friend. They’d been carrying Dan.

Earl Gray hadn’t been growling at the unknown, nor had he been waiting for Dan to return the way Phil had been that night - he’d been mourning the loss of this friend.

Dan would  _never_  leave the few possessions he’d kept with him for so long behind  _because of Phil_. In fact, the Dan Phil knew never would have run away at all.

As the tears started to trickle down his cheeks, Phil realized that something was terribly, terribly wrong in Manchester.

\--

"It isn't right, Alfie," a girl hissed, watching Dan from across the room. So, the brunette clutching his arm's name was Alfie, interesting but not entirely relevant.

The girl was pretty, with long brown hair and big blue eyes, and so far she was the only one who had looked at Dan with anything but vague distaste. Though the pity shining in her eyes might be worse, Dan hadn't decided yet.

"We have to do what we have to do, Zoe," the man replied, and yet again Dan filed the name away for later. For half a second Dan wondered if the people were cannibals. God, he hoped not.

He had no particular desire to be eaten.

"Look, Zoe," a second man added, stepping out from behind Dan and Alfie. Dan almost jumped in surprise; he hadn't known there was anyone behind him. He cursed whatever they had drugged him with. It was obviously still dulling his senses. "That Liguori doctor doesn't know what he's doing."

"And we do?" the girl, Zoe, snapped.

"Don't talk like that," Alfie replied, and from his tone, Dan knew this was an argument they'd had before. "We'll cure this thing."

\--

"We're just going to ask you a few questions, okay?" Zoe said, and Dan was glad it was her interviewing him and not one of the other guys.

He nodded in agreement, though he wasn't sure what they would want to know.

"What's you name?" Zoe asked, holding a pen over a scrap piece of paper.

"Dan Howell," he said, his voice dry and cracking.

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"What's your blood type?"

"B positive."

"Where you traveling alone?"

"Yes," Dan said without hesitation - that was one thing he was certain of; they  _couldn't_  know about Phil.

"Where were you when the outbreak occurred?"

"London, I was about to start University there."

"Are you happy?" Zoe asked, though not to him, as she turned to face Alfie. "He's just a kid!"

Ignoring her, Alfie bent down so that his eyes were level with Dan's. "Are you immune?" He asked, his voice harsh and cold.

"Yes."


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this is so late! I got called into work unexpectedly last night, and didn't even think to queue/set up to update easily until I woke up and left for work. Next update Tuesday!
> 
> Special thanks as always to [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com) as always!

There were a lot of thoughts swirling through Phil’s mind as he walked, Earl Gray a constant presence, but also a constant reminder, next to him. There was no doubt in Phil’s mind that those men he’d seen the other day had been carrying Dan off with them, though Phil had been unable to get a good look at any of them, so the only question left was _why_?

The old Phil would have wondered if, maybe, Dan had gotten hurt. He would have given the two strange men who’d been carrying him the benefit of the doubt, and would have hoped that maybe, maybe they were just trying to get Dan to safety - to help.

But this Phil, who’d watched hundreds of the people he’d grown up with fall to an unknown plague? This Phil _knew_ something bad had happened; knew that the last thing they were trying to do was _help_ Dan in anyway, and so his footsteps were quick as he attempted to follow in their footsteps.

The day had begun to grow dim, and Phil had seen neither hide nor tail of the three men.

They must not have stopped overnight, he realized. They must have kept going, and now Phil was at least a day behind them.

For a little while, he’d been able to follow the trails Dan’s feet had made in the dirt, but eventually, those had petered out for whatever reason, and Phil had been left blind.

Now he was just trying to think of another tactic he could use to rescue Dan _before_ it was too late, because if there was anything Phil knew, it was that, at this point, there was no way in _hell_ he was giving up on Dan.

“Hey!” a voice suddenly yelled, and Phil took up his shovel in a fighting stance as he turned to the sound of the voice. His teeth were gritted, and he was well prepared to do anything to this person if it meant finding out where Dan had been taken too.

“Woah, mate! Just hold on, now. I’m not going to hurt you! Are you trying to find Liguori?” a man was asking, his hands in the air like he was surrendering as he eyed Phil warily.

Phil nodded his head, and the man burst into a grin.

“Alright, well, I know where he is!” he shouted. “I can help you, if you’ll just follow me?” he asked, but Phil shook his head, gripping the shovel tighter in his hands and taking a menacing step towards the unknown man. His smile fell.

“Okay, alright, just...tell me what you need, stranger,” the man started to say, raising his hands once again.

“What’s your name?” Phil asked, his tone of voice dangerous. He could feel himself starting to crack along the edges, anger and fear pumping through his veins in equal measure.

“Markus, you?” the stranger returned.

“Phil. Where’s my friend?” he demanded again, eyes shrewd as he studied the man’s face for any signs of deception.

“Friend?” Markus returned, brow furrowed in confusion, and then immediately dropping in concern. “Shit. Hey, mate, how long has your friend been missing?”

Phil could feel his stomach curdling at that, and before he could even attempt to answer, he was turning and vomiting onto the ground beside him, tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks and a short “Oh, God,” leaving his lips.

\--

Markus took him down into the very depths of Manchester, where the neighborhoods crested close together, and there was plenty of room to house the survivors.

There weren’t many, but there were enough, all staring out the front windows of their temporary houses as Markus, Phil, and Earl Gray made their way down winding street after winding street, to where, Phil wasn’t sure.

All he knew was the fear in Markus’ eyes at the news that Phil wasn’t only not alone, but that his friend had gone missing.

Soon enough, they had arrived at a slightly larger house, with a chimney constantly emitting smoke, and a long line of survivors waiting to take the vaccine. Markus took Phil by the arm then, and gently maneuvered him around the line of people and directly into the house.

“Doctor Liguori is just this way,” Markus explained, dropping his hand and smiling gently at Phil as he led them both into a bedroom.

There, sat on the bed with his hands wrist deep in a bowl of something or other, was none other than PJ Liguori, a man Phil had gone to university with but had never really gotten to know.

He looked up, and a grin split across his face.

“Phil Lester! Holy fuck, man, is it nice to see you again!” he shouted, standing immediately and drying his hands off with a towel that was sitting next to him. The minute they were dry, he flung himself into Phil’s arms and wrapped them around his shoulders.

“I didn’t know whether you were dead or not, but I’m glad to see you alive and well,” he continued as he pulled away, still grinning at Phil. Then he noticed the look on Phil’s face, and his smile dropped.

He turned to share a glance with Markus, and Phil could just see the other man shake his head, before PJ was looking at him again.

“What’s happened?” he asked, voice low.

“I don’t know,” Phil shot back, quickly growing angry again. “Your friend over there,” he spat, tossing a glare in Markus’ direction, “promised you’d tell me that.”

The two shared another concerned look, and then PJ sighed.

“So, I take it you didn’t come here alone, then?” PJ asked, licking his lips and then sighing heavily when Phil nodded his head to confirm.

There was silence, for a moment, and then, “Your friend has been kidnapped, and it’s imperative that we get him back right away.”

\--

"He's only nineteen, Alfie," Zoe hissed, as if Dan couldn't hear them from where he was sitting across the room (he totally could).

"So?" Alfie asked. "He's the same age as Joe, and only a couple of years younger than us."

"And I wish you hadn't dragged Joe into this mess, honestly Alfie, I have no idea what you're even thinking anymore."

"I'm thinking that I need to do whatever I can to help the human race survive." Alfie said. "Honestly, you're too soft, Zoe."

"I'm too soft? Because I don't like torturing people?" Zoe asked, loudly, "You were an assistant at a research facility, Alfie, not the head scientist. You need to accept that maybe Liguori actually _does_ know what he's doing."

"Ahem," Dan interrupted, "If someone could tell me what I'm doing here that'd be great."

"Nothing."

"Everything."

Zoe and Alfie looked at each other, and Dan wondered idly how they had known each other _before_ ; their eyes suggested they were lovers, but he wasn't sure.

"Both of you need to calm down," a third voice interrupted, and Dan connected the dots and figured that this must be Joe.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Joe," Zoe said, "I'm sick and tired of both of you acting like you're invincible. One day, we're going to get caught."

"I certainly hope so," Dan muttered. "And soon."

\--

They had eventually stopped fighting long enough to shove Dan back into that closet. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or upset by that.

Time passed differently in the closet.

He was sure it'd been a couple of hours, but he had no idea what time it was outside. He had no idea how long he'd been gone.

Suddenly the door opened, sending a flash of brilliant light into his eyes.

"Sorry," Zoe hissed, moving the torch so that it wasn't shining directly in his eyes.

"What's going on?" Dan asked, squinting so that he could actually make out some of Zoe's features.

"I'm getting you out of here."

\--


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I am so, so sorry that this is a day late - I had a super busy day lately and have so many different writing projects it’s getting hard to keep track of them. Anyway, I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Next update is still tomorrow - notanannoyingfangirl

PJ was quick on his feet, Phil decided. It hadn’t been an hour since he’d shown up at their camp, and already PJ was throwing together supplies to help Phil find Dan. His movements were swift as he moved around the house he was stationed in, and his face grave. **  
**

If Phil wasn’t trying so hard to keep calm, he’d be reading into that fact a little bit more.

“What’s your dogs name?” PJ asked on his third jog through the lounge.

“Earl Gray,” Phil responded, placing a hand on the dogs back to show ownership, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Do you have anything of Dan’s that might still smell like him? It might not work, but maybe your dog could sniff him out,” PJ continued as he barreled through the room.

Phil wanted to slap himself at the thought. He should have tried that yesterday, the moment he’d lost Dan’s trail.

Shifting in his seat, Phil grabbed at Dan’s pack and dropped it in front of Earl Gray’s nose. The dog looked up at him.

“Go on, sniff it,” Phil encouraged, eyes wide and imploring.

Earl Gray did so, nose wrinkling for a good couple of minutes. Phil was starting to lose hope when suddenly his snout whipped up, and he barked once, eyes pointed straight ahead. Phil sighed in relief.

“I think he’s got the scent!” Phil shouted to PJ, and the other man jogged back into the room. He smiled as he took in Earl Gray’s stance, and dropped down to rub the dog’s shoulders.

“Alright buddy, we’re gonna need you to scent out Dan for us, okay? In a few hours, you’re going to be leading us straight to him!”

“In a few hours?” Phil asked, brow furrowed. “I thought you said we didn’t have time to waste!”

PJ shook his head. “We don’t, but we also aren’t going to be able to do much if we try and waltz into their space in broad daylight! Come on Phil, use your head!” PJ replied, leaving the room once again.

“Whatever,” Phil muttered back, sliding off the sofa and onto the floor next to Earl Gray, whose head he pushed into his lap. Phil knew PJ was right; he just didn’t want to admit it.

Stroking behind the dogs ears, Phil tried to hold onto his composure.

There was a fear deep down inside of him that they might not get to Dan in time. PJ had warned him that a few people had been going missing over the last few days, and that he had a pretty good idea of where they’d gone.

An old colleague of his had gotten into a fight with PJ about a month back, complaining that he wasn’t doing enough to find a cure for the disease, and had stormed out when PJ refused his proposal for human trials.

“I couldn’t subject anyone to pain like that, whether they agreed to or not,” PJ had explained. “Besides, I’m _this_  close to a cure, without having to experiment on anyone. Of course, there will be trials before I administer it, but that’s not the same thing as what Alfie was suggesting.”

The explanation was still swirling around in Phil’s head. Neither of them knew just what exactly Alfie had been thinking about in terms of experimentation, but Phil didn’t want to find out either.

He had a boy to save, a best friend...and possibly a love of his life.

\--

Night didn’t come quickly enough. Phil was bouncing on the balls of his feet, anxious and terrified all at the same time, shovel in his hand. Earl Gray was at his feet, Dan’s pack in front of him to intensify the smell.

Phil didn’t know what they were going to find when they eventually found Dan, but he was hoping, and praying, that the other man would be in one piece.

If he was, he swore to himself he’d never let go of him again. Even with the possibility of Dan dying to disease, or either of them failing to thrive in this new wasteland of a planet, Phil had decided it was worth the risk to be with the other man.

Time would show if it was love or not. That was beside the point. Phil was done wasting time.

“Ready?” PJ asked, Markus smiling calmly from his other side.

“Ready,” Phil agreed with a nod of his head, jaw taught as they set Earl Gray off to chase down Dan’s scent.

\--

Though he was extremely confused, Dan decided not to question his good luck. In fact, he thanked all of the stars in the sky that Zoe had apparently grown a conscience all of a sudden.

Zoe's hand was warm around his arm, and she walked a couple of steps ahead of him, leading him through twisting corridors and hallways. How big was this school?

"Where are we going-" he started to ask, but a glare from Zoe made him snap his mouth shut.

"Out," she muttered, "I have to get out."

Suddenly she turned left and pushed open a door, sending Dan, blinking, out into the moonlight.

Glancing back at the way they had exited, Dan noticed that it must have been some kind of security exit because it was a small, unmarked metal door. Glancing up, Dan studied the stars twinkling in the sky. It was weird seeing stars in a city sky, without the glow of the streetlights to cover them up.

"What are you looking at?" Zoe hissed. "We have to go."

\--

They were halfway down the street when Dan heard it. Turning around, catching Zoe by surprise and almost knocking her to the ground, Dan felt a grin creep onto his face, because that was  _definitely_ Earl Gray racing through the alley behind them.

"Hey boy," he called softly, dropping to the ground to run his fingers through the dog's familiar fur.

Zoe eyed the dog with obvious distaste, crossing her arms. "Come on, we need to find PJ," she said, “He can help.”

"Hold on," Dan insisted, looking up hopefully. If Earl Gray was here then that meant... "Phil!" he called, catching sight of the other boy at the other end of the street.

Phil closed the distance quickly, and wrapped his arms around Dan immediately. "You aren't ever leaving my sight again," he whispered against Dan’s neck, and Dan couldn't help but shudder at the sensation.

"Okay," Dan agreed, wrapping his arms around the other boy.

"Zoe?" He heard an unfamiliar voice ask. "What the hell are you doing?"


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, aren’t we getting close to the end? Hmm
> 
> Special thanks as always to [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com) for being awesome betas. Next update Saturday!

It was the most amazing feeling in the world for Phil to have Dan back in his arms again, and he didn’t want to let go anytime soon, so he didn’t. Instead, he pressed his nose into the top of Dan’s head, and breathed him in.

Dan, safe and sound in his arms once again.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he mumbled, pressing a kiss into curly brown hair, and reaching up to press one hand into the back of Dan’s head. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Did you really think I’d stay away?” Dan murmured back, tightening his hold around Phil’s waist, and making Phil’s heart began to race.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled Dan in tighter, and pressed another kiss into his hair, closing his eyes in an attempt to block out the rest of the world and just soak in the fact that Dan was _safe_.

“Zoe? What the hell are you doing?” PJ suddenly shouted from behind him, shocking Phil back into the present. Pulling away from Dan slightly, one arm still wrapped protectively around his shoulder, Phil finally stopped to take in the rest of his surroundings, eyes immediately zeroing in on the petite women standing next to Dan.

Tensing, Phil’s fingers tightened their grip on Dan’s shoulder, lightly drawing the younger man back and away from the women PJ had called Zoe.

“Bringing back your friend. Things have gotten out of hand, PJ,” Zoe finally responded while Phil watched helplessly on.

“You bet your ass things have gotten out of hand! What were you and Alfie thinking, kidnapping people like that!? You don’t just get to decide who-”

“I know, PJ! Why do you think I was coming to find you?” Zoe interrupted him, voice terse. “I couldn’t let this go on. Alfie’s _torturing_ people, and he’s no closer to understanding this virus then he was when he worked for you!”

PJ shook his head, and swallowed thickly.

“Alright, it’s time we put a stop to this,” he finally said, but turned and began to walk off. “But for now, I think we should head back to ‘camp’ so to speak. It’s late, and I’m sure Phil and Dan are tired. They’ve had a long journey. It’s not safe to be out when there’s a madman on the loose anyway.”

“Alfie’s not a madman,” Zoe protested weakly, but followed after PJ anyway. Dan, Phil, and Markus trailed behind, Phil never once letting Dan go.

\--

They were given their own house to stay in, now that there were so many, along with some blankets and provisions to get them through the night. Tomorrow, they’d return to where PJ was administering the vaccine, and figure out a game plan.

For now, however, Phil was building a fire, body and mind jittery now that Dan wasn’t in immediate touching distance, gone out back to play with Earl Gray while Phil got their dinner ready.

Phil had let him go as graciously as he could, fully aware that they both probably needed some time alone to gather their thoughts and feelings. It didn’t make it any easier, though. Phil had already made up his mind.

Sighing heavily, Phil ran his hand through his hair. It was almost fully brown now, almost ginger in the right light, with just the tips remaining black. It was long, and swung in his face like curtains, constantly reminding Phil of how much time had passed since society had fallen apart.

But that almost didn’t even matter to him anymore. It was stupid to waste time dwelling on the past, when dwelling on the past had already nearly lost him Dan. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Stoking the fire to get it going, Phil finally settled down, and pulled the pan PJ had given him closer. A few slabs of meat were placed in the middle for Dan and Phil to eat once they were properly heated up, and there was a bowl of dog food found in one of the houses off to the side for when Earl Gray and Dan came back inside.

All Phil had left to do now, was wait.

Soon enough, Phil had dinner ready, and the sounds of feet and paws against wood flooring could be heard making their way back into the house. Dan was laughing, while Earl Gray barked happily, and all Phil could do was smile softly as he picked at a piece of cooked meat with his fingers.

He wasn’t really hungry.

Dan settled down quietly in front of him.

They didn’t speak.

“Dan, I’m sorry-”

“Phil, look-”

They smiled sheepishly.

“You first,” Phil encouraged, ducking his head.

Dan took a deep breath. “I have to be honest. I was pretty pissed off with you when you...said what you did, but I don’t want that to get in the way of our friendship, okay? I meant what I said. You’re my best friend, and I’m not willing to go our separate ways now that what we’ve made it Manchester. I had a lot of time to think, while I was in that supply closet...and I’d rather forget the whole kiss thing ever happened if it means staying your friend,” Dan explained, eyes pleading. He was picking at a hole in his jeans nervously, and all Phil wanted to do was pull him into his arms.

“Dan,” Phil murmured, choking on a laugh as he smiled up at him. “Fuck being best friends. I learned something, losing you, fearing for your life. I can’t live without you,” he stated, turning his gaze to Dan’s face with a hopeful expression.

Dan’s face split into a wide grin.

“Well that’s good, because I don’t think I can live without you, either,” Dan responded, scooting over slightly. “But...does this mean what I think it means?” he asked, voice unsure.

Phil grinned, shifting over as well, until his thigh was pressed against Dan’s.

“Yeah,” he whispered, and then he took Dan’s chin in his hands, and pulled him into a kiss.

\--

When Dan woke up, Phil's arm was wrapped protectively around his waist. Snuggling closer to the warmth emanating from the other man, Dan allowed himself to enjoy a few minutes of peace before their world was tossed back into hell.

He knew that he and Phil hadn't talked about it, but he also figured that they were in mutual agreement that they _had_ to help.

If Dan knew Alfie, and he thought that he did, then he figured the other man would be going absolutely mental about both Dan and Zoe's disappearance. Who knew what he would do...

Trying to ignore the harsh thoughts of reality, Dan shifted, turning over so that he could press his head into the crook of Phil's neck.

It felt nice to be allowed to do that, that simple motion that made _everything_ worth it. In fact, Dan didn't even really mind spending a couple of hours in a supply closet if it meant he could help stop Alfie, convince Zoe that what she had been doing was wrong (which he was positive she knew anyway), and most of all, get to hold Phil in his arms.

That was worth anything in the world.

\--


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is a day late again?? Sorry about that, insanityplaysfics and I both totally forgot to upload yesterday! This whole summer vacation thing is not helping my uploading scheduled, I always forget what day of the week it is. - Kate (notanannoyingfangirl)

"Okay, so you said it's a school?" PJ asked Zoe, glancing around the table. **  
**

Zoe nodded, "Yeah, it's just a couple of blocks away."

"So, he's been under our noses this whole time," PJ muttered, slamming his fist on the table, making Dan jump.

Phil squeezed his hand, and Dan glanced over at the other boy briefly to send a small smile his way.

"Look, I know what Alfie's doing is wrong," Zoe said, "but Joe's only a little older than Dan. He doesn't know what he's doing."

PJ nodded, "I like your brother, Zoe, he's a good kid. I had hoped Alfie wouldn't drag him into anything..."

"Do you think you could lead us to the school?" Markus asked.

"What are you going to do? Jump the guy?" Dan asked, suddenly.

"Do we have any other option?"

"He's probably long gone by now, I know I would be."

"No," Zoe said, shaking her head, "even if he knew what I did, he wouldn't leave without trying to see me one more time."

"You're not suggesting we use you as bait?" Phil asked, obviously bewildered.

"Do you have a better plan?"

“We could use me, as well.”

\--

Phil wasn’t happy.

Phil was  _not_  happy.

“Fuck that, Dan! There’s no way in hell I’m letting Alfie get his hands on you again! I’m not letting you out of my sight!” he growled, swiftly grabbing Dan’s shoulders and turning him to face him.

His fingers were tight against the fabric of his shirt, and he could see Dan flinching away from his touch, but he didn’t,  _couldn’t_ , care, when Dan was proposing he put himself in danger.

“Phil, stop. You’re hurting me,” Dan said, reaching up to uncurl Phil’s fingers and lace them with his own instead. “You need to calm down,” he added, eyes stern as he stared Phil down.

But all Phil could think about was Alfie’s anger, and what he might do to Dan before Phil and the others could get to him.

“Dan’s right, Phil. Just calm down. I know this is hard for you, but maybe -”

“NO!” Phil growled, turning on PJ quickly. “No! Alfie could  _hurt_  him, Peej!”

“Do you really think we would let that happen?”

“Do you really believe you have that much control?”

No one said anything. The room went quiet other than the sound of Phil’s harsh breathing. His eyes were wild as he stared PJ down.

“Phil, I think you need to stop, put aside your feelings, and think about this logically,” PJ placated after a long stretch of silence.

With a low sound of frustration, Phil grabbed Dan’s hand, and dragged him out of the room.

\--

“Phil-”

“Dan, I only just got you back!”

“Phil-”  
  


“It’s bad enough knowing you could die any minute from this stupid disease that destroyed the rest of our planet, without having to worry about you getting yourself killed for some reckless plan, as well!”

“Phil-”

“Alfie could  _kill_  you, don’t you understand that?”

“Phil-”

“What if we don’t get to you in time?”

“Phil-”

“I can’t live without you, Dan!”  
  


“Phil!”

“I _love you_ , Dan!”

The room went dead silent. Phil was holding his breath, eyes wide at his own proclamation, as Dan stood in stunned silence. Neither man moved for fear of disrupting the fragile moment between them.

“You...love me?” Dan asked, voice breathless.

“I...yeah,” Phil breathed back, his heart in his throat.

Then Dan was in his arms, his fingers locked in Phil’s hair as he drew him into a kiss. For a moment, Phil was frozen, staring at how Dan had his eyes squeezed shut, and then he was jamming his own closed and kissing fiercely back.

His fingers were tight, nearly bruising, on Dan’s hip, but neither of them cared as they pressed closer together. All Phil really wanted to do was cry, because the moment this was over, he had no doubt in his mind that Dan was going to fight to be a part of this plan.

Drawing away slowly, Phil blinked his eyes open, reaching up to gently cup Dan’s cheek in his hand.

Dan’s eyes were glassy and unfocused, and Phil couldn’t help but smile, despite wanting to scream out in frustration.

“Please don’t go, Dan,” he murmured, knowing his attempts were futile before the words had even left his mouth.

“I have to, Phil. Isn’t this what we came here for? To save the rest of the survivors?” he murmured back softly, blinking himself back into reality.

“But I just want to save  _you_ ,” Phil answered, dropping his head into the crook of Dan’s neck.

Soft hands came up to stroke his head, and Phil shuddered at the touch.

“I promise I’ll come back in one piece. I’d do anything for you, Phil.”

\--

Dan was shaking. As much as he  _wanted_  to help in any way that he could, he didn't like the plan just as much as Phil.

Oh, god, Phil. If Dan could have his way he would never leave the other man's side again. And he wouldn't,  _he wouldn't_. As soon as Alfie and Joe were brought back to camp, as soon as other innocent people were no longer caught in the crossfire.

It was a small reassurance that Zoe was coming with him. Part of the reason Dan had volunteered to go with her was because he didn't completely trust her to not warn Alfie. And Dan was pretty sure Alfie would know something was off if she showed up alone.

It made sense.

But that didn't make it any easier.

His fingers were still tangled in Phil's hair, and he could feel the cold plastic of Phil's glasses pressed against the side of his neck.

Gently pushing the other boy back, just enough so that Dan could reach up and press a soft kiss to his lips, Dan reached up to cup Phil's face in his palm.

"We're going to be okay," Dan whispered, his lips moving against Phil's.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crap, you guys are going to kill me. This chapter is so short.
> 
> TO MAKE UP FOR IT, CHECK OUT THIS [AMAZING PHANART](http://insanityplaysfics.tumblr.com/post/120952851388/doodlephan-you-like-it-dan-teased-him-you) MY LOVELY FRIEND [PHANTATWIST](http://archiveofourown.org/users/phantatwist/profile) DREW FOR US ON HER TUMBLR [doodlephan](http://doodlephan.tumblr.com)
> 
> [phanartphanartphanartphanartphanartphanartphanartphanartphanart](http://doodlephan.tumblr.com/post/120944595993/you-like-it-dan-teased-him-you-should-name)
> 
> Have fun! Thanks as always to [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com) for being awesome betas!

Zoe's hand was warm in his, and Dan wasn't entirely sure when she had reached back, but he found himself glad for the human contact to remind him he wasn't _totally_ alone.

The Manchester skyscrapers seemed to press in around them, making the twisting alleyways Zoe was leading them through seem even more frightening.

Everywhere Dan looked, dark shadows jumped out at him, and he knew that any one of them could be looters... or worse.

"It'll be fine," Zoe reassured him. "Alfie's more reasonable than he appears." Dan wasn't quite so sure he was comforted by her words.

"There's the school," Zoe said, pointing to the building. Dan felt his breath catch in his throat. The building was _huge._ How were PJ and Phil and Markus and everyone supposed to find them once they went inside?

Dan glanced back toward where he knew the others were following, though they were far enough away Dan couldn't hear their footfalls.

Taking a deep, ragged breath, he nodded. "Let's go."

\--

It was one of the most difficult things Phil had ever had to do, trailing after Dan while the other man walked straight into the face of danger without Phil by his side to protect him.

And maybe logically, Phil couldn’t _really_ protect Dan in the first place, but at least he could try if he were given the chance. At least, if he were to face Alfie _with_ Dan, then he could take the brunt of the attack - save Dan some pain, if not all.

Being forced to trail after Dan, rather than stand at his side, left Phil with a constant roll of anxiety in the pit of his stomach, warning him that something could go terribly wrong, and that there was next to nothing Phil could do about it.

The most he could hope for was that he, PJ, and Markus, would get to the others before things got out of hand.

“He’ll be fine,” Markus tried to reassure him, bumping shoulders with him as they matched Dan and Zoe’s pace a couple yards behind them, hidden behind houses and fern trees.

“He might not be,” Phil responded, ever the realist, and sick to his stomach with fear.

“Nah, mate. He’s a strong man. And he’s got you to come home to,” Markus assured him with one final smile, and then he was jogging slightly ahead to leave Phil alone with his thoughts.

The school came into focus a few moments later, and Phil watched as Dan turned, for just a moment, to glance back at them.

Despite knowing the other man couldn’t see him, Phil bitterly raised a thumb in encouragement.

Dan and Zoe disappeared inside the school’s emergency exit door, while Phil and the others creeped steadily closer, until finally, they were hidden behind a copse of trees just outside of the same entrance the other two had disappeared into.

“And now we wait,” PJ declared softly, settling down into a soft crouch he could easily leap out of.

Phil and Markus copied him.

The main concern on Phil’s mind as they waited, was the fact that the school was huge.

\--

It was the sound of a loud screech that first alerted Phil to the fact that something was wrong, and before the other two could stop him, he was up and out of the trees in moments.

It hadn’t been an hour since Dan and Zoe had disappeared inside, and the signal had yet to be raised, but Phil hardly cared to wait another moment longer as he threw open the emergency exit doors and sprinted inside.

The halls were loud and echoey, shooting back the sounds of a scuffle to Phil’s sharp ears as tears sprung to his eyes.

He didn’t know what exactly was happening, but he didn’t care, as the sound of two more pairs of feet cluttering down the hallways overpowered the sound of whatever was going on deeper inside.

Still, Phil tried to follow the sounds, desperate to get to Dan before it was too late.


	20. Chapter Twenty

The school was dark, little light leaking through the dirt streaked windows. In fact, Dan was sure he'd have never have gotten anywhere without Zoe to lead him around. How on earth were the others going to find them in the maze?

Lockers lined the walls on either side of him, in various states of open, closed, and cracked. Textbooks and loose papers lay abandoned on the floor, as if all of the students had dropped everything and left.

They probably had.

"We're almost there," Zoe whispered, tugging him down a new hallway. "Alfie set up his main base near the chemistry labs, so he had access to the equipment."

Dan nodded; it was the logical choice, really. But imagining what on earth Alfie had been getting up to in the labs sent shivers down Dan's spine.

"Room 502," Zoe muttered, glancing at the numbers in each door as they passed. "I never came down to the lab much. You remember the plan?"

Dan nodded, stepping in front of Zoe so that she could twist his arms painfully behind his back. Though she was small, she was stronger than she appeared, and Dan found himself wishing she wouldn't hold his arm quite so tight.

"Here we go."

\--

The first thing that hit Dan was the smell of chemicals, the harsh, slightly lemony scent of hospitals. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Dan narrowed his eyes. The room was bright, almost blindingly so, much brighter than the rest of the school.

"Zoe?" Alfie called, looking up from whatever he was studying under a microscope. "Where have you been? We've been worried sick. Joe's out looking for you right now."

"This little shit," Zoe said, twisting Dan's arm even harder, "thought that it would be a good idea to try and escape."

"Well, I'm glad you brought him back," Alfie said, stepping toward the girl, "and that you're alright."

Zoe smiled sweetly as him, and  _damn_  she was a good actor. "Were you worried?" she asked, pressing a light kiss to his lips. "Don't be, you know I can handle some punk."

They were interrupted by the slamming of the door behind them, whirling around (and dragging Dan with her) Zoe stared at the man standing in the doorway.

"Joe," she said warmly, already slipping into her act, "What's-"

"I don't know how they found us," Joe said, cutting his sister off, "but they did. PJ and his crew are right outside; I saw them while I was looking for Zoe," he explained, turning to regard his sister with cold eyes. "What the hell did you do, Zo?"

In an action so quick Dan could barely follow, Alfie lunged toward the girl, pinning her against the wall of the lab.

"Zoe, tell me you didn't do it," he pleaded.

Shaking his arms, now that they were free of the pressure from Zoe, Dan turned to regard Joe. The other boy looked about his size, and Dan had little doubt that he could take him if it came to a fight, but how would Zoe ever hold her own against Alfie?

\--

“Where the fuck is he!? I told you this was a bloody shit, idea!” Phil shouted, once again coming to a cross section of the school, unsure which direction to turn this time.

  
Behind him, PJ and Markus finally caught up to him, both men panting but otherwise determined.

PJ grabbed Phil’s arm.

“This way,” he commanded, dragging Phil to the left. “I’m willing to bet they’re holed up in the Chemistry rooms!”

Phil didn’t waste any time arguing; instead, he followed obediently behind PJ, shovel grasped tightly in one hand. Markus held a rake, while PJ grasped at a spade. There was a knife in both PJ and Phil’s waistbands, but neither boy wanted to use them. They hoped to subdue, and nothing more.

The sounds of a scuffle intensified, and Phil nearly screamed out in frustration when he heard a very distinctive, familiar male voice scream out in pain somewhere in front of him. He moved faster, pushing himself beyond his limits to get to Dan in time, horrified he’d be dead before he could save him.

The hallways appeared to get longer and longer, PJ shouting directions behind his back each time he came to a crossing of hallways, and Phil didn’t hesitate to follow them.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang as Phil shot past a closed classroom, and, screeching to a halt, he whipped around, horrified as he caught sight of the shadow of a body sliding down the doorway.

The glass was tinted, and Phil couldn’t make out who it was. For a minute, he was frozen.

Then PJ and Markus were there, throwing open the door where Phil had been unable to, shouting warnings and placations as they shot inside. Phil’s mind was racing as he followed them in, eyes scanning the classroom quickly in hopes that he’d be able to find Dan.

On the floor by the door was a man Phil didn’t recognize, and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

Then he caught sight of PJ and Markus with their hands in the air, weapons on the floor, and realized the classroom had gone silent.

Worst fears becoming realized, Phil turned to find Dan pressed into the wall by the man Phil had to assume was Alfie, a knife pressed to his throat.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The grand finale you’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived! All we’ve got left is the epiilogue, and honestly, I’m going to miss this fic. It was a great ride and I loved hearing you guys react so passionately to all my amazingly timed cliff hanger endings. [notanannoyingfangirl](http://archiveofourown.org/users/notanannoyingfangirl/pseuds/notanannoyingfangirl) and I just want to say thank you so much for going on this journey with us. Look out for something new on the horizon soon <3
> 
> If you loved this, maybe you could drop by and give it a [nomination](http://phanficawards.tumblr.com/post/113541935645/phanfic-awards-2015-nominations) for the [phanfiction awards](http://phanficawards.tumblr.com/post/113541935645/phanfic-awards-2015-nominations)? 
> 
> Thanks as always to our amazing beta’s [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http//mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com) and [katthequeen520](http://katthequeen520.tumblr.com)!!! See you on Tuesday with a little something extra!

Phil’s heart was in his throat as he dropped his own shovel, hands immediately going into the air as he attempted to placate the man holding Dan hostage. His eyes were wide as he swallowed thickly, mind racing as he looked for Zoe.

He found her lying on the floor, eyes closed, much like the man by the door.

“Alfie, you don’t have to do this!” PJ was saying.

“It’s for the good of humanity!” Alfie disagreed, sounding like a proper madman, and forcing Phil to return his gaze to him.

His eyes were crazed, and his hand steady on the knife in his hand. Now, more than ever, Phil wished they’d brought Earl Gray with them, despite his fear of losing something else precious in his life. Maybe then they’d have a chance.

Too terrified to look at Dan, Phil inched forward slowly instead, praying that Dan was mostly okay.

“This isn’t going to solve anything,” PJ disagreed. “How is spilling his blood going to help anyone?”

“I told you before, we need to experiment on those with natural immunity! How else will we ever learn how to cure this thing!?” Alfie growled. “And what better way to study the disease than with a live subject!?”

Phil had to hold himself back from screaming out in frustration, determined to go as unnoticed as possible.

Involuntarily, his eyes flickered to Dan’s face. He was grimacing, blood trickling down from a cut somewhere near his hairline, eyes screwed up in fear.

Phil very nearly lost it then.

“And what exactly do you plan on doing with him, Alfie?”

“I have a strain of the disease in the lab. One of your ‘survivors’ dragged it in here the last time we kidnapped one. All I have to do is drop it in an immune’s bloodstream, and watch what happens,” Alfie explained.

Phil was a few feet away by now.

“Then what good is threatening this boys life!?” Markus hissed.

“Simple - he’s replaceable, and I’m not. If you don’t let me go right now, your precious little friend gets it,” Alfie said, pressing the knife tighter to Dan’s throat, causing him to whimper, and forming a drop of blood against the blade.

Phil clenched his fists, jaw taught with control.

“You don’t have to do this, Alfie. I think I’ve found a cure,” PJ stated calmly, though Phil could see this his fists were clenched tight as well.

Alfie laughed. “Bullshit! I worked with you for _months_! You were getting nowhere!” he said.

“A lot can change in a few months,” PJ placated, and that’s when Phil caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. Glancing down, his gaze met Zoe’s. She winked at him, and then closed her eyes again.

“I agree,” Alfie was saying. “And one of the many things that’s changed is that I am _done_ taking orders from the likes of you! You’re a liar, and a backstabber, PJ,” he hissed.

Dan gasped as the blade dug deeper into his skin, eyes popping open, and met Phil’s gaze.

For a moment, Phil thought he could see Dan crying.

“You take everyone’s best ideas, and frame them as your own. You act like a saint, when I know for a fact you’ve experimented before. You were just too weak to try again!” Alfie said, voice harsh and cold. Phil could see PJ flinch away from his words.

“That’s because I learned my lesson the first time, Alfie! That man would have survived if I hadn’t used him as guinea pig! He was on the road to immunity, but I interfered! You can’t play God, Alfie!”

“ _Yes, I can!_ ” Alfie roared.

That’s when Zoe groaned, and rolled over, forcing Alfie’s attention away from Phil, PJ, and Markus.

It was the sign Phil had been waiting for, and with three more quick strides, he’d reached Alfie’s side and thrown a punch directly to his jaw.

The knife in his hand dropped to the floor as he turned to Phil, dumfounded but enraged, and reached out to close his hand around Phil’s throat.

Phil’s airways were immediately closed off as he struggled, reaching up to dig his fingers into Alfie’s hair and yank as hard as he could. His other hand beat against Alfie’s wrist, a race against time.

Would Phil black out, or would Alfie’s wrist give way first?”

“You fucking bastard!” Alfie was screeching, forcing Phil backwards as he walked, and jamming Phil against the far wall.

Little black spots formed in Phil’s eyes as he struggled, gasping for air under Alfie’s hold. The lack of oxygen made his arms go numb, and he felt more than saw the fight giving way. For a moment, Phil feared that the last thing he would ever see would be Alfie’s angry brown eyes boring into his own, and then -

And then another body had joined their fight.

Phil just barely caught sight of brown hair in his peripheral, and then Alfie’s grip relaxed as he collapsed to the ground.

Phil was quick to follow, gasping on the floor as he watched Dan knock Alfie to the ground. The smaller man straddled Alfie’s waist, his fists raining down against Alfie’s face in a show of aggression Phil had never seen from Dan before.

It was kind of terrifying, and Phil was left awestruck as he worked to catch his breath, fingers twitching uncontrollably at his sides. Alfie’s arms were raised to protect himself from Dan’s blows, but with each new hit, it became apparent that he wasn’t going to take back the upper hand.

No sooner had Markus and PJ finally reached Dan’s side then Alfie was unconscious, face beaten and bloody, with a panting Dan still sat on top of him.

Then Dan was in Phil’s arms, and, despite being unable to breathe, Phil hugged him back.

“Thank God you’re okay,” Phil gasped.

“Fuck you, Phil. Don’t you ever do that again!” Dan hissed back, gently slapping Phil on the arm. “I thought I was going to lose you, you idiot!”

Phil laughed.

“I love you, too,” he said.

\--

"What are you going to do with him?" Dan asked PJ, as they walked back toward the camp. PJ and Markus were dragging the still-thankfully-limp form of Alfie between the two of them, and Zoe was supporting her brother. Joe, though he seemed stunned from their fight (Dan couldn't help but be proud of the fact that he'd probably given him a concussion), was relatively unharmed, but it hadn't taken him long to change sides as easily as his sister.

Dan had a feeling it would take something a lot stronger to break them apart.

Glancing over at Phil, the blue-eyed man was gripping his left hand tightly; Dan gave him a small smile.

It would take a lot more to break _them_ apart too.

"He'll have a trial," PJ explained, "that's how it works. He'll be found guilty though. I don't know how the assembly will choose to punish him."

"You mean you're not in charge?" Dan asked, squinting his eyes in confusion.

"Nope," PJ said, popping the 'P'. "I'm only kind of viewed as a leader. We try to keep some form of democracy." He fell silent for a minute, before turning to Phil. "You should try and get onto the assembly. You'd do a good job."

"Really?" Phil asked, running a hand through his hair self-consciously.

"I think you should do it," Dan agreed. "You could really make a difference."


	22. Chapter twenty two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Wow, guys this has been an amazing journey and I’m so glad that Eliza and I have had the pleasure of writing another fic together, all of the support was really lovely.. so thank you

**Three Months Later  
**

Dan glanced around the makeshift hospital; it was nearly empty, which was a pleasant change. Half a month ago, PJ had finally finished the cure that he'd been so close to. The result was nothing short of a miracle. More people had been pouring into Manchester every day, and while they had yet to hear from anyone outside of the UK, one couple had come all the way from Scotland.

In fact, the few people still in the hospital were actually  _recovering_.

"We did good, didn't we?" someone asked, placing their arm around his waist, and Dan turned to look into clear blue eyes.

"What, this?" Dan said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "This was all PJ."

"I know that," Phil said with a grin, poking Dan's dimple, "but we helped."

Dan nodded. "A little."

"I wish my family were here," Phil said, after a few moments of silence.

"I know, and Chris," Dan agreed solemnly. "But, you know, you're my family now."

Phil reached over to press a soft kiss to his lips, "I love you so much."

"And I love you too, you spoon." Dan said with a laugh, "Now. Don't you have a council to run?"

"Yes, I do," Phil replied with a smirk, "and you'd better get back to work _Doctor_  Howell."

"I am not a doctor," Dan protested.

"Oh, okay, nurse."

"Shut up!"

"Make me."

So Dan reached over, and pressed his lips to Phil's once again, grinning into the kiss. Phil’s arms wrapped tightly around his waist, drawing him in closer, and for a moment Dan actually thought they might take this farther when the barking of a certain familiar dog interrupted them.

Breaking apart, Dan turned a wide grin onto the entrance of room he and Phil were in, and laughed loudly as Earl Gray bounded into him, large body colliding aggressively against Dan’s hip.

Dan reached down to scratch behind his ears, happier than he’d ever been, and laughed again because maybe his entire family had been killed by this stupid disease, but now - well. Now, Dan had a new family.


End file.
